National Post ePaper

FOOD BILL

One group that has done well during the pandemic are the grocery sellers, since we’re all eating more often at home because restaurants have either been closed to indoor dining or had restrictions placed on them. Revenues at the three largest grocers all increased during their last fiscal year, but maybe not by as much as all the hype suggests. Brampton, Ontbased Loblaw Cos. Ltd. (the country’s biggest grocer and the third-biggest subsidiary) had the biggest revenue increase, 9.7% to $52.7 billion, while both Stellarton, N.s.-based Empire Co. Ltd. and Montreal-based Metro Inc. rose five spots to No. 15 and No. 24, respectively, as their revenues correspondingly increased 5.8% to $26.6 billion and 7.3% to $18 billion. Along the way, there have been disputes about the grocers’ pandemic pay bonuses — or lack thereof — for frontline workers and complaints from food manufacturers about new fees and fines, leading the government to investigate the need for an industry code of conduct. It seems like the grocers can afford to eat a bit more of the cost since Loblaw posted a $1.1-billion profit (up 2.5%), Empire earned $583.5 million (up 50.8%) and Metro netted $795.2 million (up 11.7%)

THE FP500 CORPORATE SNAKES AND LADDERS

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2021-06-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nationalpost.pressreader.com/article/281822876691289

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