Canadians are reacting to a $500-million settlement reached in a class-action lawsuit that accused Loblaw and its parent company of participating in a scheme that overcharged customers for bread.
The lawsuit alleged a wide-reaching conspiracy among major Canadian grocers, including Loblaw and George Weston Ltd., to artificially inflate the price of packaged bread, dating all the way back to 2001.
Under the settlement reached on May 7, Loblaw and George Weston Ltd. will pay a combined $404 million, with an additional $96 million already distributed through a previous gift card program the company launched between 2018 and 2019, according to The Canadian Press.
Customers who bought bread between January 2001 and December 2021, and who didn’t previously register for the $25 gift card, will be eligible to receive a payout of up to $25.
If money remains after those claims are processed, it will go toward shoppers who previously claimed a card, The Canadian Press reported.
Most of the funds – roughly 78 per cent – will go to Ontarians. The remaining amount will be for Quebec residents, pending a separate hearing scheduled for June 16.
In an email statement to Now Toronto, Loblaw said that the $500-million settlement has been finalized, including how it will be distributed to Canadians.
“For our part in this industry-wide arrangement that we discovered and self-reported in 2015, we sincerely apologize. We have taken a number of steps since that time to ensure this doesn’t happen again (including changes to our business practices) and to make it right with our customers, both with the $25 card in 2019 and in March by settling the class action lawsuits.”
Loblaw recognizes that it needs to do more for customers to trust them again.
“We know we have more to do to regain the trust of our customers, and we’re committed to doing that.”
Online, the reactions to the settlement have been met with skepticism.
“Now Loblaws will increase prices on everything by 15% to offset the settlement. Hooraaaay!” a user on Reddit said.
“The money goes back to Loblaw’s anyway! So it’s more of a marketing scheme than a punishment for their crime,” another user commented.
Others expressed concerns about deeper industry practices.
“Makes me wonder how many other price fixing schemes are underway that we’re unaware of,” a user said.
