Execs from grocery giants push back against inflation profiteering claims
Execs from grocery giants push back against inflation profiteering claims
OTTAWA -
Grocery executives are disputing an accusation that grocery giants are taking advantage of inflation to drive up their own profits.
Executives from Loblaw and Empire testified at the House of Commons agriculture committee Monday as part of its study of food inflation.
"Empire does not like inflation," said Pierre St-Laurent, chief operating officer of Empire, the parent company of Sobeys.
Jodat Hussain, Loblaw's senior vice-president of retail finance, told MPs Loblaw has been raising prices because suppliers are charging more, and that the company's gross margins on food have remained stable.
"Fundamentally, grocery prices are up because the costs of products that grocers buy from suppliers have gone up," Hussain said.
The executive said Loblaw pushes back on suppliers when they do propose raising prices, citing its disagreement with Frito-Lay over the price of potato chips, which led to empty shelves during the dispute.
The rapidly rising cost of groceries has become a hot-button issue in politics, with food prices up 11 per cent in October compared with a year earlier.
And relief isn't expected to come any time soon.
According to the 13th edition of Canada's Food Price Report released Monday, the total cost of groceries for a family of four is expected to be $1,065 more than it was this year.
The study into food inflation by the House of Commons committee was called for by NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor.
The New Democrats have accused companies like Loblaw of profiting off of inflation by unfairly raising prices on consumers.
MPs heard testimony from others in the grocery industry, including the Retail Council of Canada; Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada; and Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada.
"We are experiencing a unique confluence of events -- war, extreme weather and soaring fuel prices, all piling on top of supply chain disruptions and labour shortages," said Karl Little, Retail Council of Canada's senior vice-president of public affairs.
Sylvain Charlebois, a Dalhousie University professor of food distribution and policy, also appeared before MPs. The food researcher raised concerns about a lack of competition oversight that he says is feeding into distrust between consumers and grocers.
"The Competition Bureau is constantly failing the Canadian public by not providing forceful support to lawmakers in Canada when it simply endorses acquisitions and oversees investigations with little or no vigour," Charlebois said.
The Competition Bureau announced in October it is launching a study to examine whether the highly concentrated grocery sector is contributing to rising food costs.
The competition watchdog is expected to provide a set of recommendations for the government in its final report, which it plans to publish in June.
The committee will also hold another meeting on food inflation on Dec. 12.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2022.
The Bank of Canada hiked its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point Wednesday, bringing it to 4.5 per cent. Here's a look at what the rate means, how analysts are interpreting it and what it could mean for consumers.
The federal government's latest TFSA contribution limit increase took effect as of January 1, 2023. Personal finance contributor Christopher Liew outlines how the government’s most recent TFSA contribution limit increase affects you and how to make the most of it.
Finding an affordable place to live in the territories, where housing has long been a challenge, is getting even harder, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation suggested in a report released in December. In Yellowknife, the report said, the growing senior population, urbanization and strong labour market has pressured the housing supply.
Canada is suffering from a severe skills shortage in several key sectors, experts say, thanks to factors that include deficiencies in our education system as well as changing demographics. CTVNews.ca looks at some of the skills that will be most in-demand in 2023.
Bond portfolios took a beating in 2022 as interest rates climbed, but experts say investors shouldn't neglect bonds this year as the Bank of Canada nears the end of its rate hike cycle.
Canadian investors who made it through a tumultuous 2022 face further uncertainty in the year ahead amid increased recession risk. Investment professionals and personal finance experts say the easiest way to grow your money this year is to keep things simple.
In early 2020, 25.1 per cent of Canadians received $2,000 from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, according to Statistics Canada. In his latest column on CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains how repayment works.
