A worker pushes carts outside Loblaw in Toronto’s east end. Both Loblaw and George Weston publicly acknowledged their participation in price-fixing in 2017, after they reported an alleged 'industry-wide' conspiracy to the Competition Bureau in 2015., and its parent company, George Weston Ltd., have agreed to pay $500-million to settle two class-action lawsuits over their role in a scheme to fix bread prices in Canada from 2001 to 2015.
The companies have agreed to the settlement as Loblaw has been facing intense public scrutiny. Grocers, and Loblaw in particular, have become the face of high inflation with politicians and the public accusing them of not doing enough to keep food prices affordable.of Loblaw-owned stores this spring, accusing the company of “price-gouging.” Loblaw’s leaders have called such claims “misguided,” but the company faces the challenge of repairing its image with the public.
The settlement funds will be paid out to people who are deemed eligible class members, under a plan that is awaiting court approval. According to the company, further details of the payment will be made public as part of that approval process. Loblaw and George Weston have said that the scheme to artificially raise bread prices included Loblaw-owned grocery stores and Weston’s bakery business, as well as competing manufacturer Canada Bread and other grocery retailers. In 2017, the Competition Bureau executed search warrants on the offices of several grocers as part of its investigation.
The people responsible for the scheme are no longer with the company, Mr. Bonikowsky added, but he did not specify how many people had been fired because of the issue.
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