After a month of boycotting Loblaw stores, one Canadian shopper says she’s seen significant savings on her grocery bill.
Valérie Tristant lives in a New Brunswick suburb outside of Fredericton. She and her husband had been loyal shoppers at their local Atlantic Superstore (a Loblaw subsidiary) for years.
The 55-year-old, who works as a translator, told Daily Hive she first saw news of Canadians planning to boycott Loblaw in February.
The boycott was initiated by the Loblaws Is Out of Control Reddit group, an online community of frustrated shoppers. Among other demands, they’re calling on the grocery giant to lower prices, remove “member-only pricing,” and commit to ending price gouging.
Tristant said when she started reading about the boycott, she realized that she had never really considered comparing the prices of Atlantic Superstore to other grocers due to the lack of grocery store selection in her rural town.
An Atlantic Superstore in New Brunswick | Doug McLean/ Shutterstock
Tristant noted that the local Walmart only added a produce section a few years ago, and the selection of fresh veggies and fruits hasn’t always been good quality.
She was also hesitant about shopping at Costco because she felt like it might have been a waste for her small family of three.
For those reasons, Tristant said she regularly shopped at Atlantic Superstore, and it became her go-to grocery store out of habit and convenience.
News of the boycott got Tristant thinking about whether she should change where she buys her groceries.
“The more I was reading [about the boycott], the more I was thinking, ‘I need to check those prices in store,’” she told Daily Hive.
Loblaw boycott changed her outlook
Tristant and her husband budget quite diligently. When they started to notice grocery prices creeping up after the pandemic, they began “downgrading” the type of products they were buying at Superstore, choosing cheaper brands like No Name and President’s Choice to save money.
After analyzing her budget, Tristant noticed that the changes she was making weren’t working. Her family’s grocery expenses had climbed by 15% last year, even when purchasing those generic options.
On average, she said her grocery bill shopping at Atlantic Superstore was around $800 per month from January to December 2023.
“It felt like we were making the wrong choice. We needed to go out and go to several stores and compare prices… and that’s what we started doing when we saw that the boycott was being called for,” she explained.
After a month of shopping at Costco, Walmart, local farmers’ markets, and independent stores, Tristant saw a huge difference in her grocery bill.
Costco has been the go-to for many Canadians boycotting Loblaw stores | Cris Canton/Shutterstock
Despite initially being hesitant about shopping at Costco, purchasing from the big-box store allowed her to buy items in larger quantities that she could freeze or store to save for later.
She also noted that while farmers’ markets may seem more expensive, she’s found great deals on some fresh items. For example, one stall was selling a dozen farm-fresh eggs for $3.
Tristant isn’t alone in choosing Costco and Walmart instead of Loblaw-owned stores.
A recent survey found that the stores are the most popular alternatives for Canadians participating in the boycott.
“Canadians are being taken advantage of”
After crunching the numbers, Tristant said she saved around $250 on her monthly grocery bill in May by taking part in the boycott.
She said the amount left her and her husband “absolutely shocked.”
“We just thought that everyone had increased their prices by the same amount,” she added.
She also posted about her savings in the Loblaws Out of Control Reddit group, where others also posted how much they’d saved during the boycott.
“My No Frills bills were always north of $300. I stopped going a few months ago and went to Freshco instead. I have not had a bill over $200 since. It’s insane,” wrote one commenter on her post.
Another Redditor added that since joining the boycott, they’ve seen their weekly grocery bill drop from $500 to $200.
Tristant hopes grocery savings will serve as an example and help other Canadians realize they are “being taken for a ride.”
She said this is just the beginning of her quest to continue to lower her grocery bill.
“I’m very militant about this,” the shopper said. “I want to spread the message that Canadians are being taken advantage of.”
Have you noticed significant savings on your grocery bill after boycotting Loblaw stores or making different shopping choices? Let us know in the comments or email us at [email protected].