Are grocery stores hiking prices to profit off inflation? Many think so

Nearly 80% of Canadians polled say they think grocery stores are taking advantage of inflation to juice profits. That according to a new poll that says over half of Canadian households can't keep up with inflation.

By News Staff

Nearly 80 per cent of Canadians polled say they think grocery stores are taking advantage of inflation to juice profits.

That’s according to a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute, which finds over half of Canadian households can’t keep up with the rising cost of living.

Despite slowing inflation, many survey respondents say they’re cutting back on spending to save money. The Angus Reid poll shows about four in five people are doing so – roughly the same number of people who suspect grocery chains are raising prices to profit from what’s happening.

However, one expert says the numbers don’t really support that theory.

“There’s lots of accusations online and frankly I’m a little bit concerned by that because all of these accusations are baseless,” said Sylvain Charlebois, the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

“We fail to find any evidence suggesting that there is profiteering going on in food distribution. It doesn’t mean it’s not happening in the food industry but it’s not happening, at least based on the data we have access to, it’s not happening in food distribution.”


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Charlebois says gross profit margins over the last five years at Canada’s big three grocers stayed flat at around two to four per cent.

He notes prices may recover as elements that spiked costs become more predictable.

“This yo-yo we went through with COVID and, of course, with Ukraine is not there anymore and that’s really helping. It’s helping the food industry waste less and become more efficient,” Charlebois explained.

Debt an ongoing problem

The Angus Reid survey also shows Canadians are having trouble managing their debt. Six in 10 say they have too much, and half of those polled say they wouldn’t be able to handle an unexpected $1,000 bill.

“One of the biggest problems with Canadians today is the savings rate is very low. So people are really struggling to make ends meet and should anything set off their financial equilibrium, they’re going to be in serious financial difficulty and probably are going to have to reach out to a licensed insolvency trustee to resolve it,” said Laurie Campbell, the director of client financial wellness at Bromwich+Smith.

Campbell, who is one such trustee, says it’s telling that close to 40 per cent of survey respondents have said an unexpected $5,000 windfall would be used to pay off debt.

Canadians may understand it’s best to carry no debt at all, but many are having trouble managing that.

“We know that there’s a real problem out there and people are not managing their debt well. So what they do is they end up borrowing more and more to service the debt that they currently have,” Campbell added.

—With files from Xiaoli Li

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