Court Park is a frugal shopper who scans grocery flyers weekly and waits for certain items to go on sale before adding them to her shopping list.
So he was disappointed on Wednesday to see in his grocery store flyer that the cost of no-name bagels would apparently increase by four cents from Oct. 26 to Oct. 27, even after Loblaw Companies Limited announced a price freeze on all no-name products. name from October. From January 17 to 31, 2023.
“I just found it confusing how you can tell us you’re freezing the price but it’s going up,” Park told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Thursday. “A locked price should be a locked price.”
UNFROZEN SALE PRICES
A comparison of No Frills flyers from the weeks beginning October 20 and October 27 showed that the cost of other unnamed items, such as marshmallows, also increased from flyer to flyer.
No Name is one of three house brands owned by the company and sold in its Loblaws, Zehrs, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Fortinos, Atlantic Superstore, Maxi, Your Independent Grocer and Shoppers Drug Mart stores. Other brands are President’s Choice and Joe Fresh.
When made aware of the apparent price increases, a Loblaw spokesperson explained that the differences only applied to the promotional prices of these items in the flyer, rather than their regular prices.
“We understand our customers are excited about the price freeze and the predictability it means for them,” Catherine Thomas, vice president of communications at Loblaw Companies Limited, said in an email to CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. “To be clear, we have frozen the regular price of all No Name products. We will still provide additional value through sales, but customers can be sure that the regular price will not increase.”
PRICES VARY BY STORE
Bargain hunters may also have noticed that the prices of No Name products vary between No Frills stores and stores like Loblaws and Your Independent Grocer. For example, a bag of six No Name bagels from No Frills is $1.79 this week, while the same bag is $2.79 at Loblaws, or $2.50 if a shopper buys two or more.
Indeed, the company sets higher prices for certain products in stores that offer services such as bakery, deli and meat counters. In stores that do not offer the same level of service, prices for the same products may be lower.
“No Frills offers a smaller selection of products (and) fewer in-store services – like butchers for example – in order to keep prices as low as possible,” Thomas wrote. “And yes, the regular price of No Name products has been frozen at all of our outlets, including Loblaws.”
Still, Park would like to see more transparency in the pricing of No Name products covered by the price freeze. For example, he said an index of all frozen prices would have saved him some aggravation comparing flyer deals this week.
“It’s really confusing being a consumer, things being what they are right now in our economic climate. Everyone wants to save money and get the best deal possible,” he said. declared.
“When people are confused, it’s pretty easy to get blindsided and yeah, there’s not a lot of trust in grocers right now.”
EROSION OF TRUST
Retail analyst Bruce Winder says many Canadians have shared Park’s distrust of grocers in recent years, and especially during the pandemic.
“To me, it’s just amazing how strained the relationship is between big grocers, especially Loblaws, and Canadians,” Winder told CTVNews.ca in a Thursday phone interview.
“There’s no trust. I think that’s just the culmination of what we’ve been doing for the past few years.”
The public image of major grocers took a hit in 2017 after Canada’s Competition Bureau launched an investigation into allegations of collusion between Canada Bread Co. and Weston Foods Canada Inc. with major grocers Loblaw, Sobeys Inc. ., Metro Inc., Walmart Canada Corp. and Giant Tiger Stores Ltd. to artificially maintain the price of bread in Canada for 16 years. The Bureau confirmed in an email to CTVNews.ca on Friday that the investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid.
The pandemic and subsequent inflation have not helped to improve relations between Canadians and major grocers like Loblaw Companies Limited, Sobeys Inc. and Metro Inc.
“With inflation and Canadians hurting so much, the profits the big three (grocers) have enjoyed in these tough times have created an us versus them relationship between consumers and grocers,” Winder said.
In defense of grocers, Thomas said retail may be the face of inflation, but it’s not the cause.
“Understandably, people are concerned about their grocery bill and they don’t make excuses. But the price on our shelf represents many costs and many businesses up the supply chain,” he said. she wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Friday. “However, we are doing what we can, such as freezing No Name’s prices, lowering many others, and handing out over $1 billion in loyalty points.”
She said grocery has always been “one of the most trusted industries in Canada, and we don’t think that has changed.”
If Loblaw actually raised the prices of no-name items after announcing a price freeze, Winder said, the company wouldn’t be breaking any laws. Consumers would have no legal recourse, but the court of public opinion can carry a lot of weight, especially when trust in grocers is already so low, he said.
Someone who suspects a grocery item was priced in error or that a grocer raised the price of an item in bad faith might choose to spark a conversation about it on social media, Winder said. . But if they just want clarification or a refund, they can contact the grocer’s customer service.
“It depends on how serious the customer wants to take the issue,” Winder said.
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