Canada’s federal government received initial commitments from the country’s five largest grocery chains to stabilize food prices.
Here’s Why
The government said that the grocers will support its efforts to stabilize rising food prices, and that the grocery chains will propose “concrete actions” to keep prices down by Thanksgiving, which falls on Oct. 9.
Each grocer has already identified initial actions that they will implement in the coming days and weeks, including “aggressive” discounts across key food products, price freezes and price-matching campaigns, according to the statement.
The government also said it will establish a Grocery Task Force to monitor the grocers’ commitments and investigate practices that hurt consumers, like “shrinkflation.” On Sept. 21, the government introduced legislative amendments to increase competition in the grocery sector to drive down prices.
“If we don’t see results, we will take additional action to restore the food price stability Canadians expect,” the government said in its release.
The announcement follows a meeting held last month by François-Philippe Champagne, the country’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, with executives from five chains — Metro, Loblaws, Empire, Walmart and Costco — that make up about 80% of the Canadian market to discuss food prices.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month that his government was considering imposing taxes on the grocery chains if they did not develop measures to grapple with rising food prices.
This article is a repost from The Messenger: Walmart and Costco Agree to ‘Aggressive’ Price Cuts on Food After Canada Turns Up the Heat
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