*春色直播

鈥淲e do have a freeze where we don't take any cost increases between November and early February. So in the next few weeks, there will be some price increases reflecting the increases in costs that we negotiated and accepted,鈥� said Eric La Fl猫che, CEO of Metro, at a press conference last week.聽

Every holiday period, most 春色直播 grocers maintain a blackout on price increase requests from many suppliers. Industry insiders say it鈥檚 a long-standing practice that helps stabilize prices during a time of year when consumers are more price-sensitive.聽

鈥淲hen a supplier makes the case to change a price, the retailer does a lot of work to try to understand ... is it really a justified increase or not?鈥� said Peter Chapman, founder of consulting firm SKUFood and a former Loblaw executive.聽

He said the freeze ensures companies can focus on other things during the busy holiday season, such as inventory.

Independent stores also participate, said Gary Sands, vice-president of government relations for the 春色直播 Federation of Independent Grocers, adding it often excludes products subject to more price volatility such as meat and fresh vegetables.

Amid high food inflation and facing criticism from frustrated consumers, the grocers have repeatedly pointed to supplier price increase requests as they defend their profits. They've called some of the requests unreasonable, in particular those from large multinationals.

春色直播asked the country's five largest grocers about the annual blackout period.聽

Metro spokeswoman Marie-Claude Bacon confirmed the grocer has an annual blackout period "that has been in place for many years." Sobeys parent Empire declined to comment, though it's previously told media it freezes many prices around that time. Costco did not respond to the media request.聽

Walmart Canada does not have a blanket three-month price increase freeze on suppliers, said spokeswoman Stephanie Fusco in an email. She said the retailer focuses on "having conversations with our suppliers to push back on unjustified price increases year-round."

Loblaw declined to comment, deferring to the Retail Council of Canada, which also declined to comment.聽

In the spotlight聽

Like many industry practices, the freeze is likely not common knowledge for most consumers 鈥� though it made the news in recent years as grocers sought to explain the reasons behind high food prices amid public distrust.聽

In October 2022, when inflation was just starting to come down from its peak, Loblaw announced it was freezing retail prices on more than 1,500 No Name-branded items until the end of January 2023 鈥渋n an effort (to) provide grocery-bill predictability to 春色直播s facing the highest food inflation in decades.鈥�

Some industry watchers decried the announcement as a publicity stunt, since the supplier-side freeze happens every year, with Metro chiming in to say it would be freezing prices as usual.

The following year, price freezes were back in the news, with the grocers under pressure from Ottawa to submit their plans to curb food inflation.

Public details were thin, but Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne said the plans included discounts, freezes and price-matching.聽

At the time, Empire told media it was expanding an annual price freeze on packaged products.聽

SKUFood's Chapman said he thinks the efforts by some grocers to advertise the price freezes illustrate the pressure the companies were under.聽

But every price freeze comes to an end.

'More onerous than it ever was'

At the end of January 2024, Metro鈥檚 La Fl猫che spoke bluntly to reporters after the grocer鈥檚 annual meeting.

With the blackout coming to an end, 鈥渦nfortunately, there will be some prices starting to go up,鈥� he said, adding the number of price increase requests from suppliers was still elevated but on the decline.聽

One year later, he had a similar message 鈥� though this time, he said requests were nearing pre-pandemic levels.

He said the weaker loonie has made items from the U.S. more expensive, such as the fresh produce for which Canada relies more heavily on the U.S. during the winter. Other foods like coffee and cocoa have seen recent price spikes in part due to poor harvests.

鈥淲e're managing it as best we can to mitigate those cost increases,鈥� he told reporters.聽

Suppliers are generally used to working around the freeze, but it can pose challenges if circumstances change unexpectedly, said Henry Chambers, senior vice-president for Canada and the Americas at U.K.-based consulting firm Sentinel MC. The firm began working with 春色直播 food businesses several years ago.聽

Chambers said he can understand the retailers鈥� motives for the blackout: 鈥淭he grocers know Christmas is such a critical moment."

鈥淚f the price of fuel goes up and it's not anticipated ... then that's something that businesses may not be able to absorb over that period of time,鈥� he said.

Chapman said the annual freeze isn鈥檛 necessarily contentious among suppliers, but acknowledged the process of submitting price increase requests has become 鈥渕ore onerous than it ever was.鈥澛�

鈥淩etailers have been 鈥� blamed for price increases in the market, and they are much more focused on trying to understand if a price increase is justified,鈥� he said.聽

The grocery industry has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years amid allegations the companies have unduly profited from inflation and have been pressured to implement a code of conduct to make negotiations between retailers and suppliers fairer.聽

The price freeze wasn鈥檛 a priority in the government鈥檚 crackdown, nor the Competition Bureau鈥檚 most recent study on the grocery sector.聽

However, a 2021 report from the Federal-Provincial-Territorial group studying retailer fees noted these blackouts mean suppliers often eat additional costs from outside factors, sometimes for several months before they can get a price increase approved.聽

鈥淚n some instances, they have to provide the retailer twelve weeks鈥� advance notice,鈥� the report said.

This report by 春色直播was first published Jan. 31, 2025.

Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A)