Loblaw Companies Ltd CEO Galen Weston announced in mid-October that Canada’s leading grocer will be freezing the prices of No-Name brand products until January 2023.

The same month, a letter to suppliers dated October 3, said that supply chain handling fees would go up January 1, 2023 to cover higher freight costs. Distribution centre delivery charges are increasing to 1.17 per cent and direct-to-store delivery charges are rising to 0.36 per cent.

 “We have seen increased costs for almost all of the inputs required to grow and sell fruits and vegetables, and growers are feeling the pinch,” said Rebecca Lee, executive director of Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada (FVGC). “In recent conversations with some of our members, they have reported that many growers are losing money and unable to reinvest in their business this year.”

Growers saw significant price increases in gasoline, fertilizer, propane, and packaging in the last year. For example, in Ontario, between May 2021 and May 2022, the price of nitrogen fertilizer increased by 121 per cent, and the price of diesel fuel increased by 100 per cent.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture recently passed a motion that will prompt an investigation into grocery store profits. The House of Commons also passed a unanimous motion to have the Government ask the Competition Bureau to investigate grocery chain profits. FVGC looks forward to these proceedings.

Jan VanderHout, the president of FVGC said, “As a consumer myself I appreciate the challenges of escalating grocery bills while as a producer I experience the need to cover our rising costs of production in order to maintain financial viability for producers.”

Source:  Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada October 21, 2022 news release