Loblaws criticized for decision to end No Name price freeze

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Loblaws’ decision not to extend the three-month price freeze on its no-name products is not being welcomed by grocery stores.

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In October, Loblaws froze the price of 1,500 no-name products, but that ended on January 31.

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Twitter users reacted negatively in abundance to the news.

“The price differences between Loblaws and FreshCo in Collingwood are staggering. I’m sure it’s the same everywhere. Often 20, 30, 40% less at FreshCo for the same items. I haven’t shopped at a Loblaw branded store since the early days of the pandemic and have no plans to start now,” @GambyVp tweeted.

Added @Poppy50365196: « I shopped at least twice a week at the Superstore until I noticed unbranded cheese for $9.00. I stopped buying there, now I buys twice a week elsewhere… pure greed. »

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The company says it will try to reduce prices for yellow-labeled products.

However, @Crusty_Old_Punk doesn’t believe it, tweeting, « Guess it’s time to eat the rich. »

Even federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh got in on the action, tweeting in part, “Loblaws price freeze shows grocery stores are controlling the price you pay. Left to their own devices, CEOs won’t help you with the cost of living. »

However, Loblaws doesn’t take the backlash by sitting down.

The company’s social media team responded directly to some of the criticism on Twitter.

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In one example, one person tweeted: “@loblawco raised prices then ‘froze’ them at a higher rate for a bit of PR. Now their “price freeze” is over, and they are starting to see how much profit they can make by starving people again. »

But @Loblawco responded directly: “We froze prices as costs continued to escalate. We took a stand on the price freeze because we knew the price of food was a huge concern for many Canadians.

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Food inflation has been hovering around 11% for four months.