They’re profiting from food insecurity

With a record $18 billion in revenue in the last quarter alone, Loblaw is raking in profits off the backs of hard-working Canadians. [1] Let’s just say that again: $18 BILLION over the last three months.

Meanwhile, grocery prices are blisteringly high, leaving many people unable to afford groceries at all – food insecurity is rising and more people than ever before are relying on food banks to survive. [2] Yet year after year, Loblaw and its shareholders keep gouging prices and pocketing the profits.

Much of these profits are from the “discount stores” Loblaw owns, like No Frills. [3] If these stores can generate a $621 million profit in just a few months, is Loblaw really offering customers a fair price? Or are they overcharging their customers and underpaying their workers, all to drive their bottom line? [4]

Loblaw President Galen Weston and other Loblaw executives know they’re in the hot seat. With these record profits making headlines, the spotlight is on Loblaw’s corporate greed, and executives are nervous that their reputation – and profits – may be at risk.

Let’s strike while the iron is hot and launch mobile billboard vans outside Loblaw’s highest-traffic stores to expose their greed to their customers. We’ve run the numbers, and it’ll cost us $6,237.50 to design, launch, and park a billboard van outside the busiest Loblaws in the country during their highest-traffic hours. If we raise $12,475, we can launch two billboards – and if we raise $18,712.50, we can target three Loblaws stores.

Yanick, will you pitch in $10, 30, or $50 to expose Loblaw’s profiteering? We know that the people most affected by the affordability crisis might not be in a position to donate. If you are able to chip in, it will make all the more difference for those who can’t.

This reckless profiteering can’t continue unchecked. We know that corporate greed is driving the affordability crisis. [5] In 2022, Galen Weston gave himself a $1.2 million raise, but paid Loblaws workers so little that “they can’t afford to shop where they work.” [6] But the government won’t step in to regulate grocery giants like Loblaw without a massive wave of pressure from Canadians.

That’s where we come in. Leadnow has a long history of holding corporate giants’ feet to the fire. And with Galen Weston and other Loblaw executives constantly showing off just how much money they can squeeze out of hardworking people, this won’t be the first time we’ve worked together to expose Loblaw’s greed. Here’s a billboard we ran outside of a Toronto Loblaws:

With your help, we can do this again and keep Loblaw in the spotlight when it matters most. If you’re in a position to donate, will you chip in now to hold Loblaw accountable?

https://act.leadnow.ca/loblaw-23

With determination,

Rivka and Cheryl, on behalf of Leadnow

Sources:

[1] https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/loblaw-reports-profit-and-sales-up-as-shoppers-continue-to-flock-to-discount-stores-1.6645774

[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/one-in-10-torontonians-now-rely-on-a-food-bank-1.7027318

[3] See 1

[4] https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/no-frills-strike-1.7030372

[5] https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/supermarkets-continue-to-increase-profits-on-back-of-inflation-data-shows/article_137e5970-c54f-527d-baa8-129b5c6c93a0.html

[6] https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/grocery-executive-compensation-1.6802091