Loblaw to gradually drop tariff prices on groceries in Canada
Shoppers will soon start seeing tariff prices drop on thousands of grocery items at Loblaw stores in Canada.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would be removing retaliatory tariffs on American goods, effective Sept. 1. Loblaw Companies Ltd. CEO and President Per Bank welcomed the news in a recent LinkedIn post, calling it a “big development” for businesses and customers.
“It means that, in the days and weeks ahead, the price of goods in our stores impacted by tariffs will come down,” he wrote. “Prices will come down over time, as we sell through inventory that was purchased based on tariffed pricing.”
Per Bank/LinkedIn
After calls for grocers to label made-in-Canada products mounted in February and March, Loblaw implemented a system that marked Canadian products with a maple leaf symbol and imported U.S. products with prices that have been affected by tariffs with a āTā symbol.
Bank said that the removal of counter tariffs also means that the grocery giant’s stores, which include No Frills, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Real Canadian Superstore, will soon be able to remove the “T” symbols from over 4,000 products on shelves.
However, he noted that dropping tariff prices in Canada will be gradual.
“I want to be transparentā¦ just as it took time for tariffs to start impacting goods based on the inventory we had on hand, it will also take time for tariff-related pricing to come off what we have in stock,” Bank wrote.
“We will definitely look for ways to accelerate the benefit for consumers, and I will reiterate: as tariffs come off items, any tariff-related pricing changes will also be entirely removed, penny for penny,” he added.
In the meantime, the grocer has been working to create more diversity in its sourcing and supply chain strategy. According to Bank, the upside to the trade war is that the grocer has expanded its network of suppliers, adding over a hundred new Canadian and foreign supplier partnerships.
“We will continue to proceed with this part of our sourcing strategy, especially where it will lead to better costs for us and better prices for consumers,” he wrote.