Don't look for many changes in the upward trend in food prices at the grocery store anytime soon , as the monopolization of both the retail market and the global supply chain runs deep and has not only a firm grip on basic commodity prices, but also on retail pricing at the grocery store level.
In the retail level of the marketplace, especially in Canada, there are only four major retail giants: Weston's, the Empire Company, Pattissons, and, recently, Walmart. The illusion of more competition is just that Weston's, probably the biggest of all retail groceries, owns Superstore, Loblaws, No Frills, Independent, wholesale club pack, Shoppers Drug Mart and Bulk Barn. The Empire Company, which is Sobeys, Safeway, Freshco, Foodland, IGA, Farm Boy, Thrifty Foods, and Lawton's Drug. Pattison's Grocery empire is Save-on Foods, with large stockholdings in Empire Company.
Most think that there is consumer choice out there when clearly these facts reveal that the consumer has absolutely no option other than stores which have rebranded themselves to promote the illusion of.
So, given the reality of the monopolization of your grocery dollar, it is easy to understand the concept of price fixing on behalf of the corporate ownership that controls the brand.
The other issue is the supply chain and the small number of companies which supply the retail market, which has dwindled into a small group of players in the Canadian and American marketplace and is totally tied to modern factory agricultural practices , often owned by the very processors that they supply.
Irving Food brands owned by the Irving Family hold Cavendish Farms and are the most prominent landholder on Prince Edward Island. Not to mention owning one of the largest tissue-producing companies in North America.
McCain Foods International is, independently, the largest food monopoly in Canada, with its processed foods division, control of Maple Leaf Foods, and extensive Canadian production acreage. As with Tyson Foods, vast amounts of livestock are contractually grown by producers across Canada.
This is why our food prices continue to outpace inflation because there is no room for competition within the Canadian Marketplace as these Large Corporate conglomerates control both the wholesale supply chain as well as the retail,
In fact, if we as Canadians looked very carefully at the supply chain, we would see that most food grown in this country is grown for export and a vast amount of the food we consume is imported from around the world. This also factors into the price and continual inflationary pressures.
The last Pressure is public debt, and people's shopping and eating habits have been changing dramatically. Grocery stores across the country are losing revenue every day, mainly because consumers' purchasing power is so vastly diminished. So, their solution is to raise prices to protect shareholder equity. The product they sell that can't be sold generally finds its way into being written off and put into a compactor rather than donated to feed a hungry nation.
Most hunger across North America can be attributed to the fact that these large monopolies waste far more every day at the retail level than what they can sell. This is a practice that must stop and proves that what we consume is priced far higher than what it is worth.
Governments need to take action to break these giant monopolies, yet are reluctant to do so. The reason is that, in the eyes of many politicians, wealth is power, not people. So, legislation surrounding food, its production, and retail marketing tends to follow the money instead of everyday consumers and those who remain hungry at the end of each day.
The purpose of the Government is to be a regulator, not one of rolling over the minute a lobby comes calling with a bankroll of money.
It's time for Governments to show responsibility to those who are responsible for their existence. Not a handful of wealthy individuals. Until they do, it would be far from any expectation to see any change at the grocery store except for the less change you have in your pocket!
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