A large number of supermarkets in Canada may be empty after two days! 50,000 people angrily boycotted! But these places are about to burst
May is just around the corner, and thousands of Canadians are launching an unheard-of boycott this month.
According to CityNews, Canadian shoppers who are "deeply dissatisfied" and very angry plan to boycott Loblaws and all of its supermarkets throughout May.
This means that for a full month starting in two days (May 1), a large number of Canadians will be determined not to go shopping at all Loblaws supermarkets. These supermarkets include, for example, Loblaws, No Frills, Fortinos, Shoppers Drug Mart, etc., and even T&T, a Chinese supermarket.
The boycott against the Loblaws supermarket giant has intensified online, with initiators calling on all Canadian shoppers to shop elsewhere. Over the course of a month, these shoppers who don't spend money in large supermarkets may flock to some small and medium-sized supermarkets.
The Loblaws Group has come under federal and public scrutiny due to growing Canadian dissatisfaction with big grocers due to rising food prices and profits.
Emily Johnson, a mental health worker in Milton, Ontario, and one of the organizers of the boycott, one of the initiators of the mass boycott, said, "We don't want to struggle anymore. ”
The group she and some other initiators created on the Reddit forum has been looking for ways to complain about Loblaw and other grocers.
The group, called LoblawsisOutofControl, currently has about 56,000 members. While it's impossible to know how many people will participate in the boycott, the page is full of posts from people claiming to have planned or started a boycott.
It is reported that the organizers of the boycott also made a series of demands to the Loblaws Group, which included signing a code of conduct for groceries and promising to provide affordable prices.
Recently, some people have gone to the door of the supermarket to call for a boycott.
Johnson said the main purpose of the boycott was to have a financial impact on Loblaw, Canada's largest grocer. But she also hopes that the boycott will educate people and draw attention to the government.
Mississauga resident and community advocate Rahul Mehta said he was already cutting back on shopping at Loblaw-owned stores and planned a total boycott of the company in May.
He hopes the boycott will encourage shoppers to stop shopping at large supermarkets and instead go to small, independent local supermarkets.
"I think our event is a way to make people realize that it's not just giant supermarket chains like Metro and Loblaws that are shopping options. He said.
Monica LaBarge, an assistant professor at Queen's University who studies food access and consumer well-being, said consumers are increasingly feeling powerless about their lack of choice, especially in smaller communities.
"It's unlikely that Loblaws will change its basic business model because of the boycott," LaBarge said.
That doesn't mean the company hasn't noticed, though, adding that the grocery store has withdrawn its changes to discounts on products close to its expiration date following a public outcry.
Per Bank, president and chief executive officer of Loblaw, said the company is focusing on customers and seeing them try to mitigate inflation by seeking sales, buying more private label products and shopping at discount stores.
He said in an interview that the supermarket is responding to the changes with new promotions and expanding the range of discounts.
"We don't have a contract with a customer," he said. If they don't like the offer we offer, they can choose to shop elsewhere tomorrow. ”
He also said that he takes customer complaints very seriously and that if the customer is not satisfied, "this is the problem I want to solve." ”
LaBarge said the impact of this mass boycott on companies may not be immediate, but it could be strengthened over time if people's habits change.
"That's where the financial impact lies," she said. "Consumers continue to churn over time because it's hard to come back once they're gone. ”
She also said supermarket giants may not fully understand "how dissatisfied their customers are" and the risks it poses to their reputations.
Some of the participants in the boycott were once loyal customers of Loblaw, such as Willi Fleerakkers, who plans to abandon not only Loblaw but also shopping at supermarkets such as Metro and Empire in May.
"I've switched to buying vegetables and fruit from a local family-run store," Fleerakkers said.
A TikTok influencer, De Sequeira, said she was making a "soft" boycott of two other Canadian hypermarkets but had completely removed Loblaw from her life, even canceling her PC Financial Mastercard and no longer dispensing at Shoppers.
Bank acknowledged that Loblaw's reputation had taken a hit since before the pandemic and said the company was looking to rebuild. He argues that customers are more likely to "blame" supermarkets like Loblaw than other players in the supply chain or global factors that are causing price increases.
"Everybody knows Loblaws. Everybody knows our chairman, Galen Weston," he said.
"We're a very, very easy target and we need to accept that. ”
However, some people are unsure whether they will participate in the boycott, while others find their situation a little difficult.
The case of Halifax resident Tempa Hull falls into both of these categories. Because the two closest grocery stores to her are Loblaws and Sobeys, and she doesn't have a car.
"Most people don't have the choice, the time or the money to do it," she said.
However, she and her husband will try to participate as much as possible, at least partially, in this boycott. Even though they can't buy everything they need elsewhere, they plan to shop less at Loblaws.
"I think this planned boycott will eventually show that they have choked us by the throat. We can't resist them because they have so much of what we need to live in society," she said.
But the resistance to Loblaws is no longer just about not going to buy things. Someone in Toronto even launched a collective 0 yuan purchase.
GTA has been popping up all over the place lately. The poster reads: "First annual Loblaws Theft Day! on May 12, 2024." Someone in Canada instigated a collective '0 yuan purchase'! Involving a large number of supermarkets, the police: Just call the police! Netizens exploded
But the posters put up everywhere did not specify who the organizers were.
The media contacted Loblaws to ask if they were aware of the posters and how they could prepare for the chaos that might arise that day, when a large number of people came into the store for $0. The company has not yet responded.
A Toronto Police Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the supermarket giant is a private company with its own security guards.
"If someone is caught shoplifting, the merchant can call the police and file charges," the spokesperson explained. If a business calls the police for some reason and asks to go to their location, we will. ”
With May coming in 2 days, what kind of challenges will the Canadian supermarket giants face?