“Our profit levels are reasonable”: Galen Weston Jr. and other grocery chain CEOs defend food prices

CEOs of grocery chains across Canada, including Galen Weston Jr. from Loblaw Companies Limited, faced the music on Wednesday afternoon during a House of Commons agriculture committee meant to address rising food prices.

Weston Jr. was the second speaker during the event, and he started by saying that the world was in the midst of a “cost of living crisis.”

He then deflected blame, suggesting that grocery food companies weren’t responsible for food inflation and higher prices.

“No matter how many times you read it on Twitter, the idea that grocers are causing food inflation is not only false, it’s impossible.”

He stated that he believes “food inflation will normalize.”

Weston Jr. added that retail prices had not risen faster than costs at Loblaws.

The Loblaw CEO also celebrated what the company was doing for charity, adding that they have fed over one million children annually.

Michael Medline, CEO of Empire Company Limited, was the first speaker at the event and blamed operational costs on higher prices. However, he suggested they would “continue fighting for their customers” and battling food price inflation. He added that he wouldn’t “throw our suppliers under the bus” who are also dealing with supply-chain-related cost increases.

Metro Inc. CEO Eric La Flèche was also present.

Ontario MP Ryan Turnbull highlighted some numbers for the CEOs, including the fact that net income has more than doubled in recent years for these chains. Turnbull said that Loblaw’s net earnings went from $1 billion in 2019 to $2.2 billion in 2022.

He quoted Jim Standford, who said, “to claim that supermarkets and other firms are innocent conduits merely passing on higher costs is empirically false.”

Turnbull also asked Medline if they would use some of their “ballooning profits” to provide deeper discounts to customers. Medline suggested Empire had one of the lowest profit margins in the world.

Another Ontario MP, Lianne Rood, pressed the issue around family farms, with many going out of business, pushing the CEOs to do better for farmers.

Many speakers suggested that Walmart and Costco should have undergone the same level of scrutiny, but the CEOs of those companies were not present.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was fired up and pointed his first question at Weston Jr., targeting his record profits.

“How much profit is too much profit?” he asked.

Weston Jr. answered by saying that for a $25 basket of groceries, the company sees $1 of profit, a point he made repeatedly. Singh pointed to the excess and record profits at Loblaw stores, asking, “how can you look a family in the eyes and tell them that’s okay?”

Weston Jr. replied that the company’s ability to affect this change to lower prices “is limited.”

You can watch the full proceedings here.