Every year, the price freeze at the grocery store ends when the calendar flips to February. In the coming days, consumers should therefore expect to pay much more for their basic products at Metro, Provigo and IGA.
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“There’s no point in freezing prices, consumers always end up tasting it in February,” notes Sylvain Charlebois, food researcher.
Orange juice, canned vegetables, spaghetti sauces, olive oil and pre-packaged meats are some of the products that are already costing more than they did in January.
Stefano brand sauce pots were $8.49 at Provigo Angus in Montreal on February 1, 2024. They were $5.99 just yesterday. How much will they go up now?
photo julien mcevoy
The end of the price freeze at Metro, Super C, Provigo, Maxi and IGA mainly concerns national brands, those which do not belong to them.
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“It’s disgusting. Eating is not a luxury! It’s an obligation,” says Diane St-Germain, an administrative assistant from Montreal.
Diane St-Germain finds that the price of food is “disgusting”. The 54-year-old administrative assistant no longer buys “real” brands, except for Kraft peanut butter.
photo julien mcevoy
The 54-year-old now only buys “real” Kraft peanut butter. For the rest, she takes private brands, otherwise “it’s way too expensive”.
A few aisles further, Audrey Latendresse-Bourdon, almost 30 years old, tells us that she now consults the circulars, which she had never done, because of the “craziness” of the prices.
Audrey Latendresse-Bourdon (left) and her friend Laurence Godcharles were shopping together on Thursday in the Provigo des Shops Angus in Montreal. Prices are high everywhere, but “even more here than elsewhere,” they told the Journal.
photo julien mcevoy
The big chains have been freezing prices for decades now. The goal is to prepare well for promotions and discounts during the holiday season, the industry’s cash cow.
The practice clearly illustrates that “the industry is not known for its transparency,” notes Jordan LeBel, professor of food marketing at Concordia University.
The proof? Loblaw refuses to address the issue publicly. “These are questions of a too sensitive nature,” replied the Ontario owner of the Provigo and Maxi chains to NewspaperFriday.
Grocers must give us confidence and not the opposite, argues the specialist in consumer psychology. When Provigo stopped selling food at 50% off recently, the chain “showed that it is disconnected from the world.”
Prices of canned vegetables at Provigo Angus, in Montreal, February 1, 2024.
photo julien mcevoy
No respite
The industry still needs, in 2024, the price freeze which ends in February, responds Metro, which is showing more transparency in this matter.
Eric La Flèche tackled the subject head-on on Tuesday during a rare public outing. “We receive a lot of requests from our suppliers,” repeated the boss of Metro.
Price of olive oil at Provigo Angus, in Montreal, February 1, 2024.
photo julien mcevoy
Last year, he spoke of 27,000 requests to be processed. They fell back to less than 10,000, the normal, in 2023.
The price of private labels had skyrocketed in February 2023, the opposite of today. The private label butter (454 g) then retailed for $5.99 and the package of six English muffins, $1.99.
As of January 31, 2024, these Selection or Unnamed brand products were sold at $6.49 for butter and $3.69 for English muffins.
How long will the industry continue to operate like this? “I do not know. Not forever, perhaps. Things change, they evolve,” indicates the shadow of Eric La Flèche at Metro, vice-president Marie-Claude Bacon.
Since when and why?
The price freeze is “a little obscure”, thinks Sylvain Charlebois, “it has always existed and it will no longer be of any use in 2024”. The practice in place for decades serves to prepare for the very busy holiday season, the industry claims. “In February, every year, we arrive with new prices, those that we were able to obtain by negotiating with our suppliers,” explains Metro. This is an opportunity for the chains to empty the bag of price increase requests, which reached 27,000 at Metro in 2022.