Loblaw ending 50% discount on some food items raises concerns about anti-competitive behaviour

The revelation that Loblawwill end its50 per cent discount onperishable foods like meat, fruit and vegetablesas they near their best-before dates should attract the attention of Canada's Competition Bureau, saysone industry expert.

Prof.Sylvain Charlebois,the director of Dalhousie University's Agri-food Analytics Lab,believes theaction taken by the grocery chainto align its policy with other food retailersmight be considered anti-competitive behaviour.

In an email to CharleboisMonday, Loblaw spokesperson Catherine Thomas said the company is moving away from offering a range of discounts between 30 and 50 per cent on "serve-tonight" products andtoward "a more predictable and consistent offering, including more consistency with our competitors."

"If this is not collusion, it certainly appears to be very close to it," Charleboiswrote in a column for the Toronto Sun, describing the practice as "discount fixing."

Meanwhile,NDP MP Alistair McGregorhas written to the commissioner of the Competition Bureau askingfor a "thorough investigation." In the letter, he stated thathe believed Loblaw's"co-ordination raises suspicions of possible collusion or anti-competitive business practices within the Canadian grocery retail sector."

While such a move to scrap the popular discount may anger some consumers, some experts say there's nothing to suggest it runs afoul of competition laws.

WATCH | Anend to deep discounts at Loblaw-owned grocery stores:

Loblaws will no longer offer 50% discount on expiring food

8 months ago

Duration 2:02

Loblaw-owned grocery stores will lower the discount on perishable foods like meat, fruit, and vegetables near their expiration date from 50 to 30 per cent.

'Conscious parallelism'

Instead, what Loblawappears to be doing is known as"conscious parallelism"the ability of competitors to watch what others are doing in order to copy them, according to Jennifer Quaid, an associate professor of law who specializes in competition and business regulation atthe University of Ottawa.

"It's not illegal," she said. "The fact that you watch what's going on in the market and you copy your competitors is not a criminal collaboration becausethere's no decision to get together and do something."

Until recently, Loblaw Cos. Ltd. which owns grocery brands including Loblaws, No Frills, Zehrs and Valu-Mart offered last-day discounts of up to 50 per cent on items nearing their best-before dates. But now, discounts on perishable goods will range between 30 to 50 per cent.

WATCH l Shoppers unimpressed by change:

Reaction to Canadian grocery giant's diminishing discount

8 months ago

Duration 1:37

The CBC's Preston Mulligan spoke to people in Nova Scotia on Loblaws's decision to reduce the markdowns on food that's about to expire.

It's a move that has angered some, in particular vulnerable Canadians who have come to rely on the 50 per cent discount.

Chalebois says thatin the free market, Canadians expect grocers to remain innovativeand creative when it comes to discounting.

"When you have this attitude, saying that 'We're just doing this because we're aligning our policy with our competition,' that'snot a free market," he told CBC News in an interview.

"Loblaws can do whatever it wants with its discounting policy. When the motive is about copycatting, like being a copycat to the competition,that's not on.I think people are expecting something different."

Section 45 of the Competition Actmakes it illegal for competitors to conspire, agree or arrange to "fix, maintain, increaseor control the price for the supply of the product."

If the grocery retailers got together and all agreed to remove a discount, that probably would be a form or price fixing, Quaid said.

"But there doesn't appear to be any evidence of that," she said, notingthere doesn'tseem to be anything happening that would necessitate aninvestigation by theCompetition Bureau, thefederal agency that is mandated to boost fair competition.

Competition Bureauinvolvement not needed, expert says

Ambarish Chandra, an associate professor of economics at the University of Toronto's RotmanSchool of Management, says he doesn'tbelieve Loblawwas engaging in anti-competitive practices by removing the discount and says it shouldn'trequirethe Competition Bureau to get involved.

"This isway down the list," saidChandra, who hasspokencriticallyof Canada's grocery industry. "They're not going to do it, nor should they, given the other pressing issues that they should be focusing on."

Chandra said they should be focusing on theirinvestigation intogrocers'roles in thealleged bread price fixing scheme.

WATCH |Can laws and regulations help lower food prices?

Food prices will likely go up in 2024. Can these controls help lower them?

8 months ago

Duration 7:19

Some claim changes to Canada's Competition Act, as well as the proposed grocery code of conduct, as the latest controls that will help lower food prices in the grocery sector.

In an email to CBC News,Emmanuel Morin, a spokesperson for the Competition Bureau of Canada, said the organization was aware of the Loblawannouncement regarding its discount,but that it would be "inappropriate to comment or provide opinions on specific conduct in the marketplace."

Quaid saidpeople need toremember thatcompanies exist to makeprofits.

"We may wish they made other choices," she said, but notedthat if people are to trust in the market and don't want too much government interference in business, then they have to be careful about when they decide they don't like the choices businesses are making.