Loblaw blinks playing chicken with consumers

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Savvy shoppers are greeting a new Loblaw Instagram post with derision and calls to boycott the grocery giant.

Loblaw has been in hot water with consumers since early January, when a CTV reporter posted a picture of five boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a pack — priced at $37.03.

That’s just under $27 a kilo.

Titled simply, “I beg your pardon,” CTV’s Siobhan Morris’ chicken price expose tweet went viral, reaching almost 5 million and raising the ire of beleaguered shoppers. 

And it sparked a backlash against Loblaw.

That chicken, Loblaw has explained, is expensive because it’s one of over 100 items in their “Free From” line of food and from animals raised without antibiotics.

Apparently in response to the initial tweet, the grocery chain has now created an Instagram video showing various packs of boneless, skinless chicken for sale — at different prices — titled, “So many chickens and #NoFowlPlay.”

The post includes this statement:

“Between inflation, supply chain issues, and an avian influenza, there are many reasons the cost of chicken has risen. We have lots of poultry options at different prices, including PC® Free From and PC® Blue Menu, to help you find the best option for you and your family.”

Consumers aren’t buying it. Starting with this typical comment, “You should be ashamed of yourselves,” the responses flame Loblaw for price gouging, tone-deaf social media attempts, and adding insult to injury with the post.

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One consumer suggests in the comments: “We should all avoid grocery shopping at Loblaws on a specific day,” and another suggests that the boycott take place on Feb. 3.

“We’ve been in your stores, we are forced to pay ridiculously inflated prices for basic nutritious staples, and it is unacceptable. This cannot continue, you’ve had your two to three years of huge profits at the expense of citizens,” comments a consumer.

Another consumer dubs the post a “cover-up” and calls Loblaw out for their recent “no name prize freeze gimmick” — referencing the highly touted price freeze of No Name house brand items that was announced (and dismissed by cynical shoppers) in October.

Consumer faith in Loblaw began to slide in 2018, with news of the bread pricing scandal involving numerous bakers and grocers across the country.

Things got worse for Loblaw when the company withdrew special pandemic pay in June 2020 for the frontline workers who continued to work and serve the public during the initial Covid-19 lockdowns.

Major grocery chains in Canada made $2.3 billion in profit in 2022.