What to know
- A viral TikTok video shows jars of ghee locked behind glass at a No Frills grocery store in Scarborough, surprising a shopper who filmed the display.
- Similar videos from shoppers in Brampton and Mississauga suggest the practice may be happening at multiple locations.
- Loblaw Companies Limited confirmed the products were locked up due to high theft rates, saying retailers sometimes secure specific items based on store-level trends.
- The clips sparked debate online, with some users questioning whether the move targets South Asian shoppers while others pointed to rising food prices and economic pressures as possible reasons for theft.
A TikTok video has gone viral for showing ghee products (a clarified butter popular with the South Asian community) locked behind glass at a grocery store.
The post showed a Toronto resident shopping at a No Frills in Scarborough, evidently shocked by the locked away items.
@reerowden lol never in my life have I seen this… #toronto #scarborough #groceryshopping #desi ♬ original sound – reerowden
“They done locked up the f**king Ghee guys,” she said. “What have you guys been doing?”
The resident, by the username @reerowden, did not specify which No Frills location she attended.
This wasn’t just the case in Scarborough, with a Brampton resident also posting a video on TIkTok and another doing so from Mississauga.
In an email to Now Toronto on Thursday, Loblaw Companies Limited, the parent company of No Frills, confirmed the reason for locking them away was theft related.
“Retailers have had to introduce solutions to help address this issue,” the company explained. “In our stores, that includes measures like securing certain high-theft products in locked cabinets. These decisions are based on product-level theft trends and store-specific conditions.”
Ghee is most often used when making parathas, a type of flaky flatbread, often stemming from South Asian countries.
Some TikTok users expressed their surprise by the decision, with some suggesting the locked cabinet seemed to target a specific demographic.
“Funny they never lock up soy sauce, ranch, Tabasco. Only black and brown products. What could be the reason,” one TikTok user said.
“This feels… targeted,” another user added.
“Ramadan is around the corner, they’re trying to pick a fight,” a different TikTok user pointed out.
Many other users said they understood why people were stealing the product in the first place, with some saying the state of the economy was already difficult enough to begin with.
“Call me too woke but idc if someone steals from a grocery store owned by a multi-million dollar company. Esp in this economy,” one TikTok user said.
Another TikTok user said the cost of ghee was expensive, therefore it was not confusing as to why they were being stolen often enough to be locked away.
“Is anyone realizing that the ghee is like damn near $17? People are stealing because people are starving,” they said.
This is not the first time a grocery store has been called out for locking up specific products, especially ones widely used by a specific marginalized racial demographic.
In the past, Walmart has also been called out for placing Black hair care products behind a locked glass. The company claimed this was also because of high theft, and not race related.
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Some TikTok users wanted to take action, saying placing products like ghee, hair care, and even baby formula, behind a locked cabinet only makes them hesitant to buy it.
“I don’t have time to be calling grocery store workers to unlock shelves for me,” one TikTok user said. “This would ruin my day.”
“We need to start sueing these companies, the racism is next level,” said another.
“They doubled the price, [people] stole, they cage it, now regular customers won’t buy it either [because] it’s disrespectful and not worth the price,” said another TikTok user. “[Just] let the ghee expire guys.”
