Some Canadians are stealing expensive food items from grocery stores as the cost of living continues to rise, with some even taking to social media to brag.
Last week, Dalhousie University professor Sylvain Charlebois wrote about the impact of grocery shoplifting.
“Food theft has always been a major problem, but with food inflation the way it is, store owners now fear miscreants more than before,” wrote the director of the Halifax Agri-Food Analysis Laboratory in an article published on 10 January.
“According to some industry data, an average Canadian food retail store can have between $2,000 and $5,000 worth of groceries stolen per week. With the relatively tight profit margins in grocery stores, that amount is huge. To cover the losses, grocers have to raise prices, so in the end we all pay for grocery theft.”
Twitter users were not happy with Charlebois’ words, with some proudly admitting to shoplifting and others repeating the phrase “If you see someone shoplifting, no, you didn’t.”
Charlebois eventually responded to some of the online backlash, standing firm on her stance on grocery theft.
“You think it’s okay to steal while grocery shopping just because you think food prices are too high?” Crazy,” he wrote while retweeting another Twitter user.
Since it was tweeted on January 10, Charlebois’ tweet has garnered more than seven million views and hundreds of responses, most of which disagreed with his position.
Some people online also called out Charlebois personally, revealing his income and saying he was “scaremongers” for Loblaw Companies Ltd. and the family of Galen Weston.
Outrage over soaring grocery prices is a hot topic as inflation continues to take its toll on Canadians.
Earlier in January, a photo of a package of chicken breasts at Loblaw in Toronto went viral as people expressed outrage at the high price tag.
The photo, taken by CTV News reporter Siobhan Morris, shows a package of five pieces of chicken selling for nearly $27/kg.
The story continues
In November, both Loblaw and Metro reported sales and profit growth, but said they were opposed to continued supplier price increases.
Research from Dalhousie University also found that Canada’s three largest grocery companies – Loblaw, Metro and Empire – will post higher profits in 2022 than their average results over the past five years.
Notably, Loblaw beat its five-year average performance, but it also did better than each of those years individually.
Food is becoming an issue for many Canadians, as a family of four is expected to spend about $1,066 more on groceries in 2023. (Photo: Chris Stoodley/Yahoo News Canada)
According to a food report released in December, a Canadian family of four will spend about $1,066 more on groceries in 2023, with food prices rising up to 7 percent from last year.
“In 2023, Canadians are expected to continue to feel the effects of high food inflation, and food insecurity and affordability will also be a big issue with rising food prices,” the Canadian Food Prices Report said.
“Canadians will still need to be prepared to spend more next year.”
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