Canada’s Competition Bureau says it is launching a study on competition in the grocery industry.
The agency said in a press release on Monday that it plans to investigate several issues in the grocery industry, “with the aim of recommending measures that governments can take to help improve competition in the sector”.
The office functions as perhaps Canada’s preeminent consumer watchdog investigating anti-competitive practices that serve to raise prices for consumers, including things like deceptive marketing, price-fixing and even outright fraud.
The bureau says the move is not a reaction to any specific allegations of wrongdoing, but it comes as consumers struggle with food prices rising at their fastest rate in more than 40 years.
Last week, new data showed that while Canada’s inflation rate eased to 6.9 per cent, prices for food purchased in stores were still rising by more than 11 per cent.
Many factors have been blamed for the rapid escalation of food prices, including extreme weather events, higher input costs and temporary supply chain stresses such as the current invasion of Ukraine. But the bureau says it wants to try to understand whether there are anti-competitive factors at play, so it’s looking for answers to three general questions:
- To what extent are higher grocery prices the result of changing competitive dynamics?
- What can we learn from the steps other countries have taken to increase competition in the sector?
- How can governments lower barriers to entry and expansion to stimulate consumer competition?
The office is seeking public input on the issue. Anyone wishing to contribute is invited to contact the office via its website by December 16.
When its investigation is complete, the bureau says it plans to submit its findings to the public, along with a list of recommendations on how to fix the problems it uncovers, if any. This report is scheduled for next June.
A previous investigation by the bureau into food price trends found that some companies had colluded to fix the price of bread and baked goods for years, at the expense of consumers. This investigation is ongoing.
More to come