A boycott against Loblaw is gaining momentum online, and what could be thousands of shoppers taking their money elsewhere in May.
It’s the latest sign of Canadians’ growing frustration with major supermarkets, which have come under political and public scrutiny for rising food prices and profits.
“We don’t want to keep fighting,” said Emily Johnson, a mental health and addictions worker in Milton, Ont., and one of the boycott organizers.
Johnson and others began organizing the boycott after a Reddit group she created gained thousands of followers looking for a place to complain about Loblaw and other grocers.
The page, r/loblawsoutofcontrol, now has about 56,000 members. While there is no way to know how many will participate in the boycott, the page is full of posts from people who say they plan to do so or have already started. There is also a list of demands on Loblaw by the boycott organizers that includes the signing of a code of conduct for supermarkets and a commitment to offer affordable prices.
The main goal is to have a financial impact on Loblaw, said Johnson, Canada’s largest grocer. But he also hopes the boycott will educate people and draw the government’s attention.
Rahul Mehta, a Mississauga resident and community advocate, was already trying to reduce purchases at Loblaw-owned stores and plans to boycott the company completely in May.
He hopes the boycott will drive shoppers not to other big box grocery stores, but to local independent stores.
“I think we could potentially see a resurgence of…interest in learning and demanding real options, not just Metro versus Loblaws,” he said.
Consumers are increasingly feeling helpless about the lack of options they have, especially in smaller communities, said Monica LaBarge, an assistant professor at Queen’s University who studies food access and consumer well-being.
“It’s unlikely that Loblaws will change … its core business model as a result of a boycott,” LaBarge said.
But that doesn’t mean the company isn’t taking notice, he added, saying the grocer recently withdrew a controversial change to its discounts on products approaching their expiration date after public outcry.
Loblaw President and CEO Per Bank says the company is paying attention to customers and sees them trying to mitigate inflation by looking for sales, buying more private label products and shopping at discount stores.
The grocer is responding to these behavioral changes through new promotions and expanding its discount footprint, he said in an interview.
Loblaw has to continue looking for ways to add value to keep people coming back, he said: “We don’t have a contract with our clients. “They can choose to shop elsewhere tomorrow if they don’t like the deal we are offering.”
The bank says it takes customer complaints personally, and if customers aren’t happy, “that’s something I want to fix.” He added that if a customer really doesn’t like Loblaw, “that’s too much.”
The boycott’s effect on the company might not be immediate, but could accumulate over time if people’s habits change, LaBarge said.
“That’s where the financial impact is,” he said. “It’s that constant loss of consumers over time, because it’s very difficult to get them back once they’re gone.”
LaBarge believes grocers don’t fully understand “how deeply dissatisfied their customers are” and the risk that poses to their reputation.
Some of the participants in the boycott were once loyal Loblaw customers, like Willi Fleerakkers, who in May plans to resign not only from Loblaw, but also from the Metro and Empire stores.
“I’ve already started buying fruits and vegetables at the local mom-and-pop store,” Fleerakkers said.
She’s not sure the boycott will significantly affect Loblaw’s bottom line, but she thinks it could hurt its reputation.
For Ann de Sequeira, the boycott has already begun.
The impetus was Loblaw’s decision to reduce its discount level on food that was approaching its expiration date, he said.
De Sequeira, a Toronto resident who posts about food on TikTok, said she is conducting a “soft” boycott of the other two major Canadian supermarkets, but has virtually eliminated Loblaw from her life, canceling her PC Financial Mastercard and moving your recipes from Shoppers. Drug market.
Loblaw backtracking on its discount shift showed De Sequeira that if consumers “make a fuss about something that is loud enough, they have to take action,” he said.
Bank acknowledged that Loblaw’s reputation has taken a hit since pre-pandemic times and said it’s something the company is looking to rebuild.
He argued that it is easier for customers to “point the finger” at grocers like Loblaw than at other supply chain players or at global factors that lead to higher prices.
“Everyone knows Loblaws. “Everyone knows our president (Galen Weston),” he said.
“We’re a much, much easier target, and we have to live with that and that’s okay.”
Some people are unsure about the boycott; some aren’t sure it will work, while for others, boycotting Loblaw-owned stores is easier said than done.
Both are the case for Halifax resident Tempa Hull. The two closest grocery stores to Hull are Loblaws and Sobeys, and she doesn’t have a car. But she knows others have even fewer options.
“Most people don’t have the option, the time or the money to do this,” he said.
She and her husband are going to try to participate, at least partially. Although they can’t buy everything they need elsewhere, they plan to reduce their purchases at Loblaws.
“What I think this planned boycott is ultimately going to show is that they have us by the throat. That we can’t boycott them because they simply have too many things that we need to live and function in society,” Hull said.
“And that, if anything, should be the big warning signal to the government that they need to get serious about solving the problem.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2024.