Food price increases driven by inflation were not isolated to Canada, but other countries handled this issue very differently.
Bester said the way the Mexican government handled major grocers in their country was more direct, and prevented prices on groceries from increasing as drastically as they did in Canada.
Last year, Mexico’s government signed an agreement to control the price of a number of “basic” foods — 24 items in the “bread basket” including pasteurised whole milk, basic cornflour, packaged bread, whole chicken, rice, vegetable oil, and canned sardines, set at a maximum price to 910 pesos (about $60CAN). Major retailers, including Walmart, agreed to the terms.
“The government really took more of a carrot and a stick approach to freezing the prices of a basket of goods, bringing grocers in and saying, basically, ‘this is the way it’s going to be,’” Bester said.
Macdonald noted that the UK also approached grocery price increases differently than Canada.
“They brought the big grocery stores together to offer sort of a set of basic products at lower prices for a kind of house brand,” Macdonald said. “You’ve got the cheap bread for a certain set amount, the cheap eggs for a certain set amount, that sort of thing.”
In 2023, Canada’s big grocery chains exceeded $6 billion in profits — an increase of eight per cent from the previous year, according to the Centre for Future Work. The data found food retailers are now making more than twice as much profit as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
that last bit really says it all:
The data found food retailers are now making more than twice as much profit as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic
This is why shoplifting doesn’t exist. If the stores can pick your pockets, you can take from them too.
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I just graze liberally at the reassuringly expensive olive bar as payment for apparently working the checkout against my will.
Fuck Sobey’s with an artichoke.
They bought Thrifty Foods here on the west coast and the purchasing became less local, staffing policies got shittier, pricing got worse, and it generally just fell into boycott territory for me.
The locally based grocery chain that remains here is pretty good so we still have that, but choice vanished, thanks capitalism.
Which is the locally based grocery chain in BC? The island has the Market Stores which are nice, but wondering about other alternatives.
Country Grocer
IGA (specific to BC)
There’s IGAs in Québec and I would guess other provinces? Sorry if I misunderstood your comment
There are IGAs elsewhere but the operation structure is different by province, some are Sobeys stores, but BC ones are run by Georgia Main Food Group Ltd. https://www.igastoresbc.com/sm/pickup/rsid/070/terms-conditions
IGA is a Sobeys affiliated banner.
There are IGAs elsewhere but the operation structure is different by province, some are Sobeys stores, but BC ones are run by Georgia Main Food Group Ltd. https://www.igastoresbc.com/sm/pickup/rsid/070/terms-conditions
If you have a Cooperative in your area, support them. At least the profits get shared back to the members.
Most of the coopratives in my area are financial. Meridian credit union plus some cooperative insurance places.
There’s also planet bean which makes coffee. But that seems to be it.
I’m thinking of moving my business banking to Meridian, any advice?
I recommend you just book an appointment with them and talk to them yourself. I’m planning on joining them for the high interest savings account (4.8% for the first 4 months then 0.08% onwards)
I plan on it, but don’t want to waste time setting up a new account without some first hand recommendations. A friend of mine is opening an account so I’ll wait for that review.
We have a coop that does groceries, fuel and hardware/ag supply. It’s been around as long as I can remember.
https://www.pembinawestco-op.crs/sites/pembinawest/tags?keyword=Services
They don’t deliver to my area it seems sadly.
I’m in Southern Ontario. Where can I shop? We have a farmer’s market and butchers, but there’s stuff I need that they won’t have. I was shopping at Metro, because Canadian, but like… why does everyone have to be evil?
They’re capitalists.
You don’t get to be the size of Metro without being a selfish, greedy, asshole. Aka, a capitalist.
I understand that, but at this point, consumption alone has made us all complicit.
Honestly? Costco.
They pay and treat their employees well and, despite being a US company, they’re pretty good about sourcing things from outside the US. They’re also defying Trump’s anti-DEI crusade.
Yes, they’re still a multi-billion-dollar corporation, but they’re the best of a bad lot by a wide margin.
I should have said, I also shop at Costco. But I have a uromastyx (for example) who needs fresh greens two or three times a week, and that’s not something I can get at Costco or my local farmer’s market, y’know?
who needs fresh greens two or three times a week
Many small chain or independent stores have fresh greens. I live in Southern Ontario as well and have plenty of options for fresh greens.
Costco greens are sold pretty damn fresh and we buy 2 3 packs of lettuce that last easily 2 weeks on dinners and the lettuce isn’t even sad by the end.
Maybe start a little growop for your friend? We grow catnip crops for our cats. We bring our one pot a s they mow it down in hours, then we nurse it back to health.
Also per volume most of the stuff is cheaper than elsewhere.
If you can get a friend or neighbor to split with you, there are easy to share two/three pack items for a bunch of things. Lean ground beef is one good one.
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Switches to farmer’s markets and small grocers harder
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Road to hell is almost always paved with “good intentions”. Then some fuck comes around and twists/corrupts the whole idea.
The government can just raise taxes instead of printing 40% additional money supply, to avoid these price spikes where we are then trying to attribute blame.
In the 70s they blamed unions for asking for higher wages when they debased the currency by moving to USD and then off the gold standard, its always externalized by the government to avoid blame. Here’s a newspaper from the time of the union complaining about wage controls.
https://cupe.ca/sites/default/files/journal_winter_1976_p1.jpg
I also find it funny Tiff Macklem egging people on telling people to go and borrow, which is unheard of talk from a central bank, and then we miraculously had greedflation.
Its a bit before my time, rhanks for sharing! Seems like the old addage “a sucker is born every minute” is alive and flourishing. People are arguing Libs vs Cons when its basically a few levers they can pull while the unseen arm of capitalism moves along. all the politicians and their cronies seem to take the lions share whike we squabble… Media should be more accountable and tell us rubes when we’re being bamboozled
The Liberals play with fire ignoring CoL things like this when it comes to the future youth vote.
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It’s not me you have to convince. My age group didn’t lean conservative in this election.
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In Canada the gov doesn’t control prices. They can investigate and … oh, like they’re doing now.
Try again, Polievre.
I’m very obviously not conservative, don’t strawman critical opinion. I voted Carney. I just see the youth getting fed up and think we’re fucked the same as the USA in 4 years if nothing is done about cost of living. Whether it can be managed or not. We have the same culture rot and decades of decline.
They could control the prices. It is the solution to this problem.
of COURSE you are from shit.just.shit
