Canada’s highly concentrated grocery retail industry lacks sufficient competition to give consumers adequate choices, lower prices and higher-quality goods and services.by the federal Competition Bureau. The study, released Tuesday, makes a number of recommendations to government on how to address the issue, including paving the way for international retailers to enter Canada and boost competitiveness of the sector.
The report was published shortly after the bureau announced a major step forward in a years-long investigation into an alleged industry-wide conspiracy to fix the price of bread in Canada: last week, one of the country’s largest bread producers, Canada Bread,and admitted to participating in the scheme. A number of other companies, including some of Canada’s largest grocery retailers, remain under investigation and have denied any wrongdoing.
Canada’s grocery industry has undergone significant consolidation over the years, and five grocers now control roughly 80 per cent of the retail market. The report points out that Canada’s three largest grocers – Loblaw, Sobeys and Metro – last year made profits totaling more than $3.6-billion on more than $100-billion in sales.
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Competition Bureau to release report on grocery industry Tuesday morningThe bureau launched its study in October with the aim of exploring how governments can act to promote greater competition in the retail food sector.
Source: TorontoStar - 🏆 60. / 55 Read more »