Grocery giants grilled: What we learned | About That
Vložit
- čas přidán 8. 03. 2023
- The CEOs of Canada’s biggest grocery chains appeared in Parliament on Wednesday, pushing back against allegations of profiteering while food prices skyrocket. CBC News business reporter Anis Heydari and Andrew Chang discuss what we learned.
»»» Subscribe to CBC News to watch more videos: bit.ly/1RreYWS
Connect with CBC News Online:
For breaking news, video, audio and in-depth coverage: bit.ly/1Z0m6iX
Find CBC News on Facebook: bit.ly/1WjG36m
Follow CBC News on Twitter: bit.ly/1sA5P9H
For breaking news on Twitter: bit.ly/1WjDyks
Follow CBC News on Instagram: bit.ly/1Z0iE7O
Subscribe to CBC News on Snapchat: bit.ly/3leaWsr
Download the CBC News app for iOS: apple.co/25mpsUz
Download the CBC News app for Android: bit.ly/1XxuozZ
»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»
For more than 80 years, CBC News has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.
People would easily afford groceries if homes didn't cost a million dollars in this country
Very good point.
Why not attack both issue
Right? House prices have gone up at least 4× in Toronto in to past 10 years and nobody has ever been brought before Congress to answer for that.
@@jeremybenoit759 that’s immigration that did that
@@Trythis837 yes the poorest countries who immigrate here are buying million dollar homes??? Its from foreign investors, AIRBNB users, Money laundering or just investors in general. Almost 40% of the homes in toronto are empty. its just another greed based item.
Canada is in serious trouble.
Keep voting Liberal and it will get worse.
His is nothing. Look at the UK. They are literally choosing "to heat or eat"
Canada is fine in being with trouble and many are not bothered except these journalists
What we learned? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
At tax payers expense!
Why is our national food supply in the hands of a few rich families? This is essential to our lives. Is this the kind of capatilism that can live within a democracy?
Capitalism isn't the answer my friend.
@@OrangeDiCapa It is called "crony capitalism".
@@maarifa4772 capitalism is inherently crony and corrupt; you can’t escape that reality under a capitalist system. wealth always accumulates at the top and monopolies form, directly contributing to the hardships the working class face
@@OrangeDiCapa
I understand your point, but is there any other system of government, that can replace the current capitalist system?
@@maarifa4772 capitalism will inevitably and itself, it is a self eating snake, and it will push the masses of the working class to the breaking point. At that point, the working people of Canada will likely be in favour of radical change or even revolution. It is in my view that the ball has already begun rolling and the inflation crisis now will contribute to a shift to the left as more and more Canadians are priced out of the middle class. And I don’t mean the Liberal party centrists left, I mean the NDP, and even the Greens. The clock is already ticking. Climate change is on the way, prices are skyrocketing. The rich are getting richer while there are now two generations of Canadians adults who can no longer afford shelter for themselves, or their family. So to answer your question, the system of governance that can replace capitalism is that of Socialism. We already have the Democratic frameworks for free and just society, Socialism will become the backbone that ensures the destruction of the systems of corporate tyranny and worker’s exploitation, currently upheld by the capitalist system.
Galen Weston dances around the questions, and the answers show it. As my grandmother used to say, butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.
How does one answer dumb questions of people who don't understand business?
In reference to the no name price freeze. My view on that is that loblaws increased the prices on no name products shortly before they ‘froze’ prices. So, they still made 25% higher profits on the regular items I buy. Pretty obvious trickery, but fooled NO ONE!
also I checked my local stores and they've increased them immediately after the price freezer too :p
they did! at least twice before the freeze, I frequently buy no name as they're cheaper than other products, the prices did increase.
Is it just me, or is everyone who gets questioned in the House of Commons able to just dodge the question with no consequences? Something needs to change!
They can't force a specific answer out of them. If they aren't direct then it doesn't do muh if anything at all in their favor.
I wonder why nobody questioned allegations that the grocery chains are charging their producers “fees” which in fact becomes part of their acquisition costs and artificially reduces their their reported mark-ups. And a percentage charged is not equivalent to number of $$$ in profits being acquired. The $25 basket is just smaller therefore they are getting more dollars per capita.
Exactly what we noticed. The basket is smaller and there are less items in the basket. I wonder too if they are rounding prices up. Instead of $0.75 increase they round it up to $1.00. The stores in the U.S. do it.
Just look at their earnings report it’s available online.
The fees were brought up in the original full length of the inquiry. Though it didn't go anywhere.
Andrew is the absolute goat of Canadian broadcasting.
Andrew Chang👍WOW! Bringing the true journalism back 💪 amazing ❤
Holy crap. If the prices are out of their control, us Canadians will need to leave the country.
Living in Canada doesn't make sense anymore, it's cold, the house is expensive to buy or rent, car insurance is high, groceries are high, gas and utilities are high. I believe the Canadian government and the people of Canada should be blamed for all this corporation taking advantage of them.
Why aren't we inquiring the real thieves?
Oil companies
Tax freedom day is June 15.. you work 6 and a half months of the year to pay taxes which gets you what in return?
Even gasoline is taxed 30-40% meaning the government makes more off it than the oil companies.
Canadians are sick and tired of being gouged at every turn... Unless that Canadian is a share holder in one of these companies then its gouge and gouge and gouge some more.
Exactly! And by the way, I have no extra money to become a shareholder in their companies!
This is good journalism analyzing the situation with an unbiased view … food prices are going up out of control world wide. People are eating out less and buying more groceries. With the weaken Canadian dollar, expect to go up even more as import cost goes up. Restaurant owners are operating at very low margins too as food cost from wholesaler goes up
Breakfast is $14 at a restaurant.. eggs cost 70 cents.. two slices of bread cost 20.. 3 slices of bacon cost 50 cents.. potatoes 25 cents.. it costs $1.65 to make a $14 breakfast.. real low margin lmao..
@@Trythis837 ...it doesnt quite work like that....try 'how much does it cost for any business to put the key in the door'....start from there buddy.
@@dmystify1381 yeah everything else for sure hurts but the the price of food does not.
It’s like with home building. Materials have increased the COST to build a home by $21 per square foot since before the pandemic. Builders on average increased the amount they charge by $125 a square foot. They blame materials but it’s not materials.
Aren't they an "essential service" - with their prices they sure aren't
Wait until April 1 when the CT goes up.
A massive protest at their shareholders convention is needed.
We as Canadians are paying through the nose for everything. When you compare to the U.S., exchange rate alone can't justify the outrageous price difference.
Does it look like Trudeau can negotiate a deal and win ? . His only concern is how to tax you more and bankrupt Canadian's faster While at the same time make klaus schwab's handlers richer
where are those people who criticize CBC now ?!
It's quite simple, I can't afford $20 chicken. So now I don't buy chicken. I'm sure I'm not the only one here that has stopped purchasing a lot of items they used to get frequently. Doesn't that send a message too?
Three liters vegetable oil container cost around 3 dollars before the pandemic and its $ 14 now which is really a RIP off and that's only one item everybody used frequently. Imagine how much more consumers paying for other food stuff , these CEO's should do something about the inflation coming from their business areas
18.88$ were I am (5 L)
@@Violett_Ginn in my town price of 3 L is still around $ 14
"You will eat Ze Crickets and like it !" - Klaus Schwab
Profits before or after paying shareholders or share buyback schemes?
I only know from my grocery bills, and I keep very close watch on them on a weekly and monthly basis. I also compare them to last year and find that they've gone up immensely. I shop for the the bargains in stores like food basics. And I can tell you an order that used to cost me$130. Dollars now costs me closer to$200.. or more. I do not buy prepared foods I cook everything from scratch, partially due to health issues and because I believe it to be safer. Pound of butter that I used to get for $2.98 on sale is now up to $ 4.98 on sale and regular can be anywhere from$6.98 to fresh vegetables and lettuce have gone up immensely. And I will mention to you that I live on a pension. How am I supposed to support these additional costs? My monthly income stays the same throughout the year. I also want to make note that the vegetable products we receive do not last as long in my fridge, for instance lettuce,tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers , and celery. I also do not buy meat, I do buy least expensive cuts of chicken and fish. The portions of all of these are very small per meal. For instance mini drumsticks or mini thighs of chicken. One dinner will usually consist of one-and-a-half to two of those mini thighs along with salad and 1/2 of a potatoe/ or sweet potatoe... I see nowhere else that I can cut my food expenses.
Until Canada allows more competition in its industries/economy, nothing will change. Financial services, gas, communications, etc.
Screw Loblaws. I grocery shop only at the Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart near my house. Now I am hearing Loblaws owns them both too and CBC fails to mention it.
Are their executives getting bonuses? Are their bonuses bigger than last years?
And the sad truth is the grocery employees are being paid minimum wage … so all this increase only going to the heads
I mean it's not but ok lol, take Ontario for example, how much has min wage increased in the past 5 years or so? About $5
@@marcusmossuto no. ive worked at soberys and metro no unions at least not here in Ontario.
@@jeremybenoit759 number out of your butt? oct 1 2015 thats 7+ years ago it was 11.25 now its 15.50. so in 8 years its been 4.25. Min wage in Nunavut is higher then Ontario
There is a monopoly on groceries in Canada that has been allowed to flourish and that is the issue. They shouldn't allow these companies to control the market by controlling all the companies in that market. They allow large chains to eat up all the smaller shops and limit their competition.
Exactly. Any industry as large and as essential as the food retail industry that is run by an oligopoly will naturally run virtually unchecked with little to no oversight. They can and will manipulate any market to their benefit and the average consumer's detriment.
Everything the ceo said was a lie.
How do i know that?
I worked in the grocery industry for almost a decade before i became so disgusted with the greed i quit.
Ya everything he said is a lie because some random person with no evidence says so lol
@@jeremybenoit759 Ask literally anyone who has ever worked in a grocery store or for the laziest of the lazy, just search youtube.
@@TSARMOTAF their financial statements are published every quarter.. everything he said was 100% true.
@@TSARMOTAF oh well if CZcams is for the laziest of the lazy what does that say about you being here running your mouth?
They must be broken down
...it's not just Canada feeling the squeeze....it is worldwide...the public is saying the same thing.
Speaking from Britain we're going through the same thing.
Costco! Treat your customers like Costco does, and we'll all get along!!! Hm?
These guys make me sick. Numbers never lie. Independent Liars and Emperial Crooks!!😡
Time for Canadians to pick one of these groceries chains and boycott them. Then see if prices fall then. See how they like it when they have 0 sales
What and where do we get our food? One of the other two chains?
I have never been able to shop anything Loblaws Why are their prices higher than other stores when they are so large
Govt creates a problem. Then blames someone else. typical.
How much are the governments making per day with income tax, cap gains tax, hst pst, property taxes, tax on fuel, heating oil electricity, phones, TV, internet, sales tax everytime a car is sold new and used, even thrift store items are taxed, corporate tax, rates, fares, duty, import fees, hunting, fishing, boating driving, flying licenses, other licenses, etc. etc. etc......
If Loblaws is making a million per day, imagine how much tax the gov't is raking in from just that one corporation !
Casual fridays on the news is super unprofessional.
The Canadian public should protest and fight against these giants all together just like how the truckers did. This is such a shame that every consumer is fooled perfectly out of their tiring pockets by these giants!
The government grilling these companies is really really rich
Simple math will solve this
Average monthly bill per person right now is about $150
1 buck every 24 gives us $6.25 per person, per month.
These 3 own almost every grocery outlet as a powerful triopoly, so we can soundly assume at least 80% of Canadians do their main shop with one of them.
Canadas population number is 38,781,291.
80% is 31,025,033.
So we can assume they are pulling around $193,906,456.25 per month collectively.
That's 3 companies 'profiting' at least $2,326,877,475.00 a year. This doesn't even account for outside competition from places like Amazon's Wholefoods or the Giga-giant Walmart.
That's insane, that's absolutely insane.
Glad this happened, addressing the issue. It has to stop. Weston is making way too much money....4M dollars more this year, shame on him.
If the govt was serious then they would break up the big companies and quit taking loby money.
We learned that they have good chances to win The Hypocrites of the Year award! 😁
Yes the NDP certainly does, help liberals raise taxes and add new taxes and inflation and then help distract from that by blaming grocery store CEOs and claiming it's those CEOs who receive ridiculous undeserved salaries.
@@jeremybenoit759 No new taxes were done between 2022 and now yet prices are up. Profits are up though. this is what you get conservatives who have absolutely no idea and listen to absolute nonsense without looking at facts. oil profits are up 400% grocery stores are up close to 300% but yes please tell me how nothing has changed in 2022 till now in fact things are better. Last time carbon tax went up was may of last year. yet by this own video prices are up from jan to now. Inflation is lowering every month. so no its just pure greed. your conservatives havent written 1 bill in a decade. NDP have fulfilled every promise they set. Singh is the only educated leader between the 3.
These companies cut union worker's hours to PT, and brought in a wave of automated cashier robots whilst raising prices. Canadian citizens need more competition like Kroger, Winn Dixie, etc.
We need to go back to the small local grocery stores, many of us are rejecting these stores and heading to the markets. I would rather pay more at the source.
We eat less and eat only two meals per day,we do not go out to eat ,we shop at small independent groceries and still pay a hefty price but at least it is local. The rich get richer on the backs of the poor !
Now thats a huge problem I find here in Canada, people using the word LOCAL even after paying double or triple for a product.
I do not understand why they say 10% food inflation when prices go up from 30 to 100% on most commonly used stuff, are they including stuff which no one even touch, this is not how it should work
Don't trust these companies
I'm wondering why the spotlight isn't on the brands of those foods. The price increases on different foods and brands is not a consistent level across the board. They must be making a killing in higher profits, too.
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly 30 percent of world wheat exports, 19 percent of world corn exports and about 80 percent of world sunflower oil exports. Canada is still a capitalist country right? These things take time to start showing in our markets. The companies still have to bank profits to pay future rising fuel, higher wages and prices just to purchase product for shelves
Breaking up the grocery Monopoly needs to be done, if we ever want to see affordable food
again. These Monopoly's eliminate competition, that's why they can raise prices as high as
they want! DEMAND AN END TO "ALL" MONOPOLY'S. "DEMAND IT NOW!!! MAKE IT A LAW NOW!!!"
I guess we have to eat the plastic bag in the cardboard box that comes with it
The system works.
Force these men to have a public audit of their books. Then we’ll know the truth.
They are public companies. Their books are independently audited and reported as part of their financial releases and their regulatory filings. It's all publicly available.
They actually volunteered to open their boks to the COmpetitin Bureau Mark.
We already know the truth, the NDP will do anything to make gullible people forget the liberals caused inflation, raised taxes, and added new taxes, and now their trying to blame grocery store owners for the fact that the price of everything has gone up.
Yes, then we want to see your books.
Hmmmm. "men" Interesting. Maybe we should delve into "woman" and audit them for doing sweet f'all most the time.
Greed is NOT good.
I don't like to eat anymore
Thieves all of them...
I don't shop loblaws brands or shopper drug, the government should be ahame on their lack of real actions.
"Trust" ya, sure, let me dig the hole in sand deeper my head is stuck in. Grocery and petroleum industries, "Trust us".......I hope that there is a special place for you executives when your time is up on this planet.
You can only blame the grocers if they can show that their supply costs didn't go up at the same rate as their in store prices. Otherwise, you're pointing the finger at the wrong end of the supply chain.
If only Jagmeet could ask these kinds of tough questions to his buddy Trudeau.
Lets see some paperwork, full disclosure, whats the purchasing price for each item basis the selling price in the grocery store ? That should give you all the evidence you need
Covid pandamic lead to shortage in supply, shortage of supply leads to rise in price, rise in price lead to rise in bank intereste and lead to higher cost of living, why we cannot find a way to increase the supply?
"We're eating less meat." Mission accomplished!
Why are politicians not also putting fossil fuel company CEOs through the same process?
Singh was able to force the grocery stores to come, as Conservatives get most of there Donations. Oil gives Liberals the most donations because of there limited drilling on Alberta to charge more and blame it on something. If you want more stuff done we need Singh to be PM.
How about taking big real estate & big rental property corporations to Ottawa and grill their gonads! Bidding wars on houses is problematic
Part of the problem is fish, oysters, and clams, used to be in abundance back in the 1960's 1970's fishers used to fish in abundance now you can't even fish in the Port of Vancouver, due to the complaints that there is poison where Oysters live. food was more plentiful so are growers growing at the same rate? With more people on the planet, 10 thousand coming a year into Canada and more coming. Companies aren't charities they are hoarders who love to make money they aren't out to make the consumer happy, they are out to make the shareholder happy.
"Teammate" O.M.F.G, this is so cliche at this point
subjects of the land by definition entails to be subjected in every way possible. so no worries still.
Grocery stores inflation is ridiculous. Maybe if we didnt have a carbon tax then the prices would go down. What about getting rid of the gold plated pensions? Also the profits that go into the chains CEOs pocket is in the billions. Then yeah. So many factors. Id say fine the companies $40billion and give the money to the people
Loblaw is not alone. If yes, consumers can easily avoid. It is greedy merchants' universal copy-cat price gouging . some up by 25%, 50% or even 75%+, and many take cash only. I doubt they report their taxable profits. Sick of them !!!
Hello? I get it, if the cost of goods is higher, of course the grocers make more money. Kind of stands to reason right? If the cost of manufacturing goods (fertilizer and gas prices to produce - carbon tax), transportation (carbon tax) and the list goes on….it’s basic math. Got nothing to do with the retailers…it’s government policy.
I appreciate that this is being looked into but I really did feel that Jagmeet's questions (at least the ones I heard) were empty political theatre rather than trying to drill down into an issue... Rather than shouting out claims which may or may not be substantiated (but for which he didn't provide any further background on), I would have hoped he could ask well researched questions that got to the core of the issue.
Mr Singh grilling Mr Weston about how much he’s making today. Mr Singh grilling you about how much you’re making tomorrow.
Supply fixing and energy sector are major factors here too. No doubt though that big grocery takes their own chunk too.
Well that was a waste of time🤦♀️. Those companies can do whatever they want!!!
It is funny when you see the news play the people , now the CBC News comments are open .
Loud background music distracts from what the narrator is saying.
subsidize the prices by localizing the production of food son simple done next!
Those guys are a joke , they make a big bonus at the end of the year, they don’t care about us, right now we just pay whatever because is food and we have to survive.
It makes me laugh when I look at all the comments people voicing their concerns about the big 3 grocery chain Maybe look at your liberal government who's screwing the hell out of you. Why doesn't the liberal government show us their books of their spending.
Something needs to start being cheaper or it’s going to start mentally breaking us.
I wonder how much longer before kids start being malnourished or people start going to the ER for malnutrition
Grilled? .........softballed is more like it
Corporate corruption greedy ceo gets mega bucks
While we go to food banks
We learned that Jaghmeets questioning style is to just scream the same broad statement at Galen Weston and then not accepting the answer given. Like they have 3000 stores so a million a day doesn’t seem crazy.
More acting 🎭 like Trudeau for the spotlight, more than substance 🚨
Here in Pakistan... Koi haal hi nhi hy.
10%? Try 100%
So record profits and record prices do NOT equal gouging?? I am retired and can not afford to buy meat folks. Apples are $3/lb and few veggies are less. I may have to go back to work just to buy food.
Much like bankers, who are always correct in what they do with your money, and who also rake in profits galore, you will not find these high paid executives stating they are in the wrong.
I have got old recipe books. They are great for stretching meals at low $ spending. In 30's and 40's families were big and people had little money, so I substitute some ingredients (meats to tofu and certain spices) because of high prices. Yes, sometimes recipes like cake mixes are cheaper to homemade, as are some sauces. But otherwise, it's homemade, even bread made in my bread machine is now cheaper to stores, as is now we eat tofu fried chicken (hard to tell difference) same as tofu butter chicken and tofu General Tao. I also use my Convection oven, microwave oven and slow cooker,, to use 110W instead 220W electricity
I know grocery's are very expensive but its more than that! Health care, Home prices, Rent prices, New taxes, Immigration numbers, Government services, Its been 8 difficult years in Canada I would love to see the CBC play hard ball with Justin Trudeau and ask him hard questions, all I see is soft ball questions for Liberals.
Galen Weston is the Liberals best bud, the Liberals gave Loblaw's 12 million for new Freezer's a few years back this is just nuts.
Singh, you too, have contributed to this out of control inflation. p.s. quit wasting tax payer dollars on paper!
Corporate greed is out of control and criminal
Myself and a lot of my family and friends have adjusted by changing our shopping habits. Eating less meat, couponing, and shopping elsewhere like Walmarts and Giant Tiger. If this trend increases with changing shopping habits, won't they be forced to do something about their high prices?
right?
Greedy bunch!!
Waist of time
How about following the $25 key basket items from producer to till and track the mark ups? More articles on alternatives to buying food from grocery stores ie food coops, farm subscriptions, farmer's markets, bulk buying, food share groups, fewer premade packages, more homemade basics. We went through this in the 80s. Seems like the collective wisdom from then has disappeared. Starbucks, and fast food places have not gone out of business so obviously we still have money to waste on high priced non essentials.
Not you? Then point a finger! Go ahead, point a finger.
also impossible to go to the farmer i bet they have an NDA but there is no way that they are not getting screwed over to. One sign a law to remove NDA's from all food releated transactions. 2. Force the grocery stores to release profits per item as its a necessity and not a luxury, 3. tax the living heck out of there extra profits the same way we did after ww2.
PURE GREED!