“Gaslighting us now?“ Canadians skeptical after posters breaking down cost of grocery bills pop up at stores | Dished

Ayush April 15, 2024

Posters breaking down the cost of grocery bills are popping up at major chains, and Canadian shoppers are giving them the side eye.

Reddit user MentosForYourPothos shared a photo of a poster he spotted at Real Canadian Superstore last week in Langford, BC.

“Here is what you need to know about the cost of your grocery bill,” reads the poster.

It then breaks down the cost by percentages under the following categories:

Cost paid to manufacturers and growers for the food on shelves — 74%
Cost of running stores and taxes — 10%
Employee wages — 13%
Profit — 3%

“Posted right as soon as you walk in… so… they’re… gaslighting us now?” wrote MentosForYourPotho.

In Real Canadian Superstore in Langford BC
byu/MentosForYourPothos inloblawsisoutofcontrol

Daily Hive reached out to the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), the non-profit association representing retail companies that created the posters.

A spokesperson said that the infographics were made available to their members for use and that the organization regularly makes posters on a variety of topics and issues.

They then referred us to a section on the RCC’s site titled The truth about Canadian grocery inflation.

On the site, the RCC provides reasons as to why “the cause of inflation is not Canadian grocery” and why “grocers are not making additional profits on food.”

“The reason that prices have risen on grocery shelves is a straightforward one: suppliers – the manufacturers, processors, and wholesalers of food – have been increasing costs of products they supply to retailers repeatedly and almost across the board,” reads the site. “That is overwhelmingly the biggest driver of higher prices on the shelf.”

It adds that grocery “has, and always will be, a low-margin industry,” stressing that grocery profits aren’t driven by food but by health, beauty, and pharmacy products.

But with major grocers like Loblaws seeing soaring profits and grocery executives like Galen Weston Jr. getting richer, all while employees at Metro, Safeway and Loblaw-owned stores have gone on — or threatened — strikes in the past few months over wages, it’s hard for Canadians not to be skeptic about the infographic.

Shoppers shared their thoughts on Reddit, with most being suspicious of the grocery bill breakdown.

“Hmmm…something doesn’t tie with their financial statements gross profit,” reads one comment.