Loblaw just announced the end to its three-month price freeze on all No Name products, and Canadians are having a field day slamming the brand online.
A spokesperson for the company confirmed to Daily Hive in an email that the price freeze ends today, January 31.
“Looking ahead, weāll continue to hold those prices flat wherever possible, and switching to No Name will still save the average family thousands this year,” the spokesperson added.
But shoppers aren’t buying it.
People have been tweeting their frustrations about Loblaw all morning, and the brand seems to reply to a lot of them in an attempt to defend itself from the firestorm of criticism.
“Thoughts and prayers to the Loblaws social team tasked with this bootlicking exercise. Oof,” tweeted one person.
Thoughts and prayers to the Loblaws social team tasked with this bootlicking exercise. Oof. https://t.co/kc0X7w7xZo
ā Laura Slater (@marketr_laura) January 31, 2023
Looking through @loblawco’s tweets and replies, you can see that it’s been replying to dozens of tweets mentioning the grocer’s price freeze since 9 am.
100% convinced @loblaws has a reply bot that is crawling twitter and auto replying to anything that mentions its name and inflation cycling through the same several messages. š
ā Brent & Fred’s Excellent Adventure (@BrentColman) January 31, 2023
“Wow thanks Loblaws a whole price freeze for… less than a season. Very useful,” tweeted Kyle Hutton Tuesday morning.
“We froze prices to help customers at a time they needed it most and we did something to fight inflation. It meant something to Canadians,” Loblaw Companies replied.
We froze prices to help customers at a time they needed it most and we did something to fight inflation. It meant something to Canadians
ā Loblaw Companies (@loblawco) January 31, 2023
Many also questioned the company blaming skyrocketing food prices on inflation, despite its soaring profits. A report from November found that Loblaw made an extra $1 million per dayĀ during the height of inflation last year.
“Loblawsā no name price freeze ends today and despite soaring profits have the gall to state they canāt help but raise prices cuz inflation,” tweeted Dr. Yoni Freedhoff. “Listen, youāre a for profit company so do what you want but spare us the bullsh**tery.”
While we may be the face of food inflation but we are certainly not the cause. Food prices are higher in our stores simply because the manufacturers who make the products are charging more for them.
ā Loblaw Companies (@loblawco) January 31, 2023
The Canadian supermarket retailer also had a reply for that.
“While we may be the face of food inflation but we are certainly not the cause,” it tweeted. “Food prices are higher in our stores simply because the manufacturers who make the products are charging more for them.”
We may be the face of food inflation but we are not the cause. The staggering increase of costs throughout the food supply chain end up on our shelves, leading to higher food prices.
ā Loblaw Companies (@loblawco) January 31, 2023
Others accused the company of price gouging before announcing the price freeze last year.
And of course, Loblaw had a reply for that.
“We froze prices when costs continued to climb,” it tweeted. “We took a stand on the price freeze because we knew that the price of food was a huge concern for many Canadians.”
We froze prices when costs continued to climb. We took a stand on the price freeze because we knew that the price of food was a huge concern for many Canadians.
ā Loblaw Companies (@loblawco) January 31, 2023
You just contradicted your entire statement; if your cost from suppliers is increasing and you claim to have passed that increase onto the consumer, Loblaws shouldnāt be posting higher profit margins than prior years. You ARE price gouging under the guise of āinflationā.
ā Bennett Kulcsar (@BennettKulcsar) January 31, 2023
Loblaw announced the price freeze on more than 1,500 items from the No Name brand last October.
The retailer said the move was āin an effort to help customers deal with some of the worst food inflation Canada has ever seen.ā
Loblaw President and Chairman Galen Weston Jr. shared the news in a messageĀ emailed to customers, which wasĀ met with anger and frustration.