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A Loblaws supermarket in 2020

On May 1, 2024, a month-long boycott against Canadian grocery retail corporation Loblaw and its supermarkets began. The boycott was organized by Reddit community r/loblawsisoutofcontrol and later spread nationally, amidst accusations against Loblaw of engaging in corporate greed practices such as greedflation and price gouging, due to the corporation recording major profits whilst heavily increasing grocery prices.

The boycott aims to encourage Canadian consumers to abstain from shopping at Loblaw-owned stores and instead seek locally-owned alternatives such as small businesses, with the goal to pressure Loblaw into lowering grocery prices and signing Canada's Grocery Code of Conduct, which has been proposed by ministers to “address the concerns of processors, producers and independent grocers regarding increased retailer fees on suppliers and the need for balance in the supplier-retailer relationship, while also ensuring that Canadians continue to have access to a reliable food supply at affordable prices.”

Background

Loblaw is the largest grocer and supermarket chain in Canada, owning several stores and brands including Loblaws, Atlantic Superstore, Joe Fresh, No Frills, No Name, President's Choice, Shoppers Drug Mart, Dominion Stores, and more. Amidst the early-2020s inflation surge, the corporation began garnering substantial profits, first evidenced by a 30% increase in profits in its third-quarter results for 2022 compared to the previous year. Loblaw's next quarterly results showed further profits with a simultaneous rise in grocery prices. In late 2022, a study conducted by Dalhousie University found that Loblaw, along with the two other largest grocers, Metro and Sobeys, had all reported yearly profits that were 'above-average' compared to their five-year averages. These grocers were also the subject of "greedflation" accusations by critics at the time, who argued that "they are profiteering at a time when food prices are rising at the fastest rate in more than 40 years." The study highlighted Loblaw's profits for outperforming both their past-five-year average and individual year performances.

In early February 2024, an online petition seeking for Loblaw to be investigated for "pandemic profiteering and greedflation" was created, which has since received over 100,000 signatures.

Boycott

In October or November 2023, Emily Johnson, a mental health worker from Milton, Ontario, established the Reddit community r/loblawsisoutofcontrol, which over time accumulated thousands of members who utilized the platform to share their complaints and criticisms about Canadian grocers, particularly Loblaws. The community quickly started gaining popularity in January 2024, when Loblaw Companies made a controversial raise in discount prices for sell by date-approaching food in their grocery stores, and began organizing a boycott campaign against Loblaw, which was to be held throughout the entire month of May 2024. As the month drew near, the movement gained popularity among shoppers in Canada, and the Reddit community had grown to over 60,000 members by the onset of the boycott.

On May 1, 2024, the boycott against Loblaw and its chains officially began. The boycott encourages Canadian consumers to abstain from shopping at Loblaw-owned grocery stores, instead seeking locally-owned alternatives such as small businesses. The aim of the boycott is to pressure Loblaw into making a 15% reduction on their grocery prices, and signing Canada's Grocery Code of Conduct, a proposed process created by Agriculture and Food ministers throughout Canada to “address the concerns of processors, producers and independent grocers regarding increased retailer fees on suppliers and the need for balance in the supplier-retailer relationship, while also ensuring that Canadians continue to have access to a reliable food supply at affordable prices.” Previously, Loblaw as well as Walmart have both refused to sign onto the code of conduct.

On the same day marking the start of the boycott, Loblaw reported Andoza:CAD in profits out of Andoza:CAD in revenue during the first quarter of 2024, a 9.8% increase in profits and a 4.5% increase in revenue from last year.

"Steal From Loblaws Day"

During mid-April 2024, anonymous posters were placed around Toronto and in Atlantic Canada advertising the "first annual Steal From Loblaws Day" along with the date May 12, 2024. The posters additionally attached multiple logos of Loblaw's divisions. Organizers of the Reddit group have publicly stated that the posters were unrelated to their boycott.

Impact

In the first couple of days of boycotts, Canadians have claimed to have seen less traffic towards Loblaw stores, with some videos circulating on social media showing almost-empty parking lots of Loblaw-run stores.

Around the beginning of the boycott, Loblaw made attempts to contact those involved with organizing it. On May 3, 2024, r/loblawsisoutofcontrol creator Johnson had a meeting with Per Bank, the CEO and president of Loblaw, sharing "shoppers' concerns and questions" with him.

Reactions

François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said that he "isn't surprised to see consumers organizing boycotts," adding that "Canadians are hurting."

On April 30, Sylvain Charlebois, a food professor at Dalhousie University, sponsored by Loblaws, and outspoken critic of opposing arguments made against Canadian grocery inflation, referred to the boycott on a columnist piece for the Toronto Sun as "embarrassing attempts of a group that isn’t even trying to understand how the food industry functions and how it needs to be improved," adding that the "accusations of profiteering are largely unsubstantiated."

By Loblaw officials

Loblaw's Bank stated during an interview that "the company is paying attention to customers and sees them trying to mitigate inflation by seeking out sales, buying more private-label products and shopping at discount stores." Bank previously released a statement in response to the upcoming boycott on April 22, stating "Nok er nok," Danish for "enough is enough," in reference to “misinformation being spread online, in the media and by politicians.”

On May 2, 2024, Galen Weston Jr., the chairman of Loblaw, considered the boycott calls to be "misguided criticism" and added that given their significance in Canada's grocery business, "it is natural that Loblaw would be singled out as a focal point for media and government and of course consumer frustrations.” Weston denied Loblaw's alleged responsibility in the rising costs of groceries, adding that "inflation is a global issue and is not specific to our company or to our industry."