Weston / Loblaw bread price fixing scandal [General]

2017 Dec 20
Anyone been following this? Amazing that they managed to avoid charges. And this news article basically white-washes the whole thing for them.

www.cbc.ca

First of all, this is a crime story. Large companies have committed large scale theft from ordinary people. Over a long period of time.

Multiple grocery stores have been caught price fixing bread.

But the entire article is sycophantically written in the voices of the guilty, and the tone of this entire piece is established to minimize the whole idea that anyone did anything wrong.

There is no voice given to the low income Canadians who would have been most grievously affected by inflated bread prices. There is no attempt made to estimate how much money the corporations made by ripping off ordinary people. The actions emphasized by this article are how cooperative all of the price fixers have been since having been caught.

In short, this is a classic example of how corporate crime gets papered over by the media.

Check this quote in the article:
"The companies became aware of an arrangement involving the co-ordination of retail and wholesale prices of some packaged breads from late 2001 until March 2015, they said in a joint statement."

Picture an article about an ordinary person whole stole a single loaf of this criminally over-priced bread with a similar sentence in it:

"The man became aware of a situation in which a loaf of bread was inside his coat. Apparently the object found its way there in a manner outside the ordinary monetary exchange system."

Ridiculous. Shame on the CBC for this piece of trash article. And why is nobody at Weston / Loblaw in jail over this?

2017 Dec 20
I love the example! I would like to know how they fixed bread prices and how this was specific to this product line. It would stand to reason that this practice would be in effect for their other products, no?

2017 Dec 20
Yes, there is something here that really smells, and it ain’t freshly baked bread.

2017 Dec 21
Well, nobody from Weston / Loblaw is in jail because a) these things take time, but more specifically b) they got immunity, as it says in the article.

I don't find fault with CBC for the tone or quotes in the article - it's not "sycophantically written in the voices of the guilty" or whatever other hyperbolic description comes to mind. It seems pretty thorough for the first-day story on a massive price-fixing scheme. I would agree though that there needs to be more reporting on what this meant to the consumer for all those years - hopefully this will come out in due time. Something like that would be very difficult to assess when the story is just breaking.

Also, there is a movement to persuade people who take Loblaw up on the $25 gift card to then pass those cards to a local food bank. That's what I'll do, if Parkdale Food Centre wants it.

2017 Dec 21
Just breaking since March 2015?

And they get immunity for reporting their own crimes? Wow.

2017 Dec 21
The public knowledge / media reporting of this started yesterday, not 2015.

I don’t like that they got immunity, but that’s the reason why they aren’t in / won’t go to jail. If that’s what it took to stop the price-fixing, maybe it’s worth it. I’m not a legal expert in commodities pricing.

2017 Dec 21
Instead of a system that hands out 'Get Out of Jail Free' cards, how about a system that rewards whistle-blowers in cases that lead to fines (and jail!). Part (or all?) of the fines can be used to reward the whistle-blowers because they will be black-balled in the industry they work in ... or more precisely, no longer work in.

Rumour has it that there was a whistle-blower was getting ready to out Galen Weston et.al. Strange how they guilty ones had the $25 card program in place, the press releases written etc. Well orchestrated.

2017 Dec 21
"But the entire article is sycophantically written in the voices of the guilty, and the tone of this entire piece is established to minimize the whole idea that anyone did anything wrong."

Yup, that's corrupt PR, overall.

2017 Dec 21
How is it strange that the company who reported the crime more than 2 years ago has a PR strategy (gift card, quotes, etc) ready to go when the news breaks? It’d be strange if they didn’t.

2017 Dec 21
Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University was interviewed on the news last night and he mentioned that the price fixing of bread is so widespread due to its popularity as a household staple. Most of us eat bread on an almost daily basis. He predicted that price fixing in the grocery industry is possibly more widespread than we think and bread is only the tip of the iceberg. A detailed explanation is on his blog: blogs.dal.ca

2017 Dec 23
And there is a 1 billion dollar class action lawsuit.

Good on ya Galen Weston!

www.cbc.ca

2017 Dec 24
Maclean's says Loblaw owes you closer to $200

www.macleans.ca


2017 Dec 29
I rather like the suggestion I heard the other day, if everyone signed up for the 25.00 gift card loblaws is offering as compensation and gave the card to their local food bank, what a great gift to the food bank. I'll be signing up, passing my card to a friend I know is struggling. Simple gesture.

2018 Jan 8
Looks like if you want your $25 you have to sign away your rights to sue them over this. Initially they said they would not introduce such a clause.

From the online registration:

Please review the Release carefully.

As you may be aware, proposed class actions relating to an overcharge
on the price of packaged bread have been commenced. The proposed class
actions have not yet been certified by the courts as class actions. If
you wish, you may contact one of the intended class action law firms
(click here for firm information).

In exchange for this twenty-five (25) Canadian Dollar Loblaw Card you
hereby release and forever discharge Loblaw (“Loblaw” includes Loblaw
Companies Limited, its parent corporation George Weston Limited and
their affiliates as well as all of their current and former officers,
directors, and employees) from any and all claims or causes of action
(of whatever nature or kind) for damages, costs or other relief that
you may have relating to or otherwise in connection with any
overcharge on the price of packaged bread in the period between
January 1, 2002 and March 1, 2015, to the extent of twenty-five
dollars.

Agreeing to this release will not impact your right to participate in
any class actions relating to an overcharge on the price of packaged
bread. However, doing so will mean that twenty-five (25) dollars will
be deducted from any compensation that you may otherwise be entitled
to receive in any class action judgment against, or settlement with,
Loblaw relating to any overcharge on the price of packaged bread in
the period between January 1, 2002 and March 1, 2015.

You may wish to obtain independent legal advice, including by
contacting one of the intended class action firms, before checking the
box in Section F below, and submitting this Registration Form.

2018 Jan 8
No, if you read it it says that you just get $25 less if you are both a recipient of the gift card and in any other settlement.

2018 Jan 8
Yes I read too quickly. My bad. That's good news.

2018 Jan 8
Parkdale Food Centre has said they would be happy to take the GC's if people want to donate them. They will use the GC's to purchase food for their daily meals and cooking workshops.

2018 Jan 31
It looks like the bread price fixing was not limited to just Loblaws: ottawacitizen.com

2018 Jan 31
Looks like it was at least $1.50 a loaf overcharge, and Loblaw Companies Ltd., Walmart Canada Corp., Sobeys Inc., Metro Inc. and Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.

ca.finance.yahoo.com

Billionaires and Millionaires and the companies that shield them from personal responsibility, stealing nickles and dimes out of the pockets of the poorest of Canadians.

2018 Feb 1
That’s a lot of dough, for bread. Sorry. . . . . .couldn’t resist, but someone needs to do time for this, it’s theft.

2018 Feb 2
Sobey's is now threatening to sue Loblaw for implicating them in the bread price fixing scandal: www.cbc.ca

I think I will stick to buying bread from local bakeries from now on...

2018 Feb 3
I think the rule of thumb is that in order to fix prices you have to have the cooperation of your competition.

2018 Feb 5
Michelle Hauser's 2 cents, or maybe the $1200 a year added expense.... www.pressreader.com

She makes a lot of valid observations (but I think gets a wee bit sidetracked at the end).

2018 Feb 6
While these companies need to be taken to task for what they've done I'm not sure there's much relief for the public at large here. Class action suits of these sorts don't end up compensating members of the class in any significant way. In truth, the $25 gift card is probably more than someone gets out of the suit and they won't see that money for years yet. The majority of the money ends up with lawyers.

If anyone remembers the CD price fixing class action suit from many years ago the payout to class members was like $10.