Fed up with rising food prices, an online movement is springing up to fight back in the form of boycotts.
The group set its sights squarely on one target: Loblaws, the company that owns Superstore and No Frills here in Winnipeg, along with Shoppers Drug Mart.
Organizers say they plan to boycott Loblaw-owned stores through May. They are asking for prices to be reduced by 15 percent.
Loblaw Chairman Galen Weston called the boycott “misguided criticism” and said the company cannot blame itself for rising costs because inflation is a global problem.
“For me, the real problem has always been upstream in the supply chain with vendors, and that's where the problem lies,” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University's Institute for Agricultural and Food Analysis.
Charlebois explained that vendors have to negotiate prices with grocery chains like Loblaw to get their products on shelves.
When these fees go up, so does the price of the food.
“Is Loblaw part of the problem? Of course it is, but the purpose of the boycott is the wrong issue,” Charlebois said.
Charlebois said some of the vendor fees are due to low competition in Canada's grocery sector.
He believes that if consumers want to make a difference, they should boycott all big box stores and instead shop at independent grocers whenever possible.
Ed Cantor, owner of independently owned Cantor's Quality Meat and Grocers, isn't sure whether he will benefit from the boycott.
He says they always try their best to offer good deals to their customers.
“At the end of the day, we're trying to give the consumer the best customer experience and price. That's all we strive for,” he said.
Food prices are still rising, but not as fast as they once were.
According to Statistics Canada, food inflation rose 1.9 per cent in March from a year earlier.
From late 2022 to early 2023, food inflation peaked at 11.4%.