With food prices the way they are these days, if you see a mistake, don’t hesitate to alert a clerk or manager If you’re not checking your grocery receipts for errors before leaving the store, chances are you’re overpaying for some of your groceries, especially for discounted items. In the U.S., some states have tried…
Many Canadians will view the new drinking recommendations with great skepticism Looks like we all need to drink less alcohol. Last fall, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), a national organization that provides information and advice on substance use and addiction, shared recommendations that we should all drink no more than one…
Grocers need to be more accountable to themselves and the public A grocer code of conduct is coming to Canada. The United Kingdom and Australia, where grocer oligopolies exist, have a similar code already. This is great news for consumers; in fact, it should be considered a minor miracle. It all started in 2020 when…
“Chickengate” exposes the crisis of confidence grocers face today It all started with one reporter taking a simple, trivial picture of an overpriced pack of five boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The cost was $26.87 a kilo, a world-class sticker shocker, at least double what one would expect to pay for chicken breasts. Within hours, the…
Most thefts are by people driven by desperation, negligence, or a mixture of both Grocery theft has always been a major problem, but with food inflation as it is, shopkeepers now fear the wrongdoers more than before. In December, some Ontarians visited stores in Trois-Rivières, Que. to steal $4,000 worth of meat. In Sherbrooke, Que.…
Something grocers often fail to exhibit With a new year starting, we hear announcements about bonuses in food retailing. Metro recently announced that it offered five top senior executives $3.7 million in bonuses. This represents a four per cent increase in bonus payouts over the previous year, while Metro sales grew 3.3 per cent over…
This is what happens when a government is driven by urban politics Ottawa recently announced that tariff revenues received from Canadian farmers who bought Russian/Belarusian fertilizers this year are being sent to Ukraine to rebuild infrastructure. Canada was the only G7 country to put tariffs on Russian and/or Belarusian fertilizer after Russia invaded Ukraine back…
Let's hope 2023 brings us some relief on the food front As a follow-up to a very busy 2021, the year 2022 was truly filled with many food-related stories. Food was top of mind for many for the entire year. Reflecting on the last 12 months is always interesting, come December. As we do every…
The state has no place in the kitchens of the nation COP15 on biodiversity has brought thousands of delegates to Montreal to address critical issues our planet is facing. Regarding food systems, delegates are discussing agroecology, food systems intensification, and fisheries in food security. One issue catching some people’s attention is diet and overconsumption. That’s…
The dish has become an emblem of our gastronomic heritage worldwide, whether we like it or not The French baguette has just been recognized by UNESCO as an intangible heritage. Same thing for tea culture in China and 46 other gastronomic elements. Cuban rum made the list this year. UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific…