The federal government is courting foreign grocery chains to increase competition and hopefully reduce prices, but one analyst is doubtful it will reap any real benefits to shoppers.
Ottawa is targeting 12 foreign grocers, most of them from Europe and one American, to see if they’re interested in expanding into the Canadian market.
At least two, ALDI and Little, are already operating in the United States.
However, Sylvain Charlebois of the Agri-food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University questions whether foreign grocers would be interested in a very limited market.
He says the latest data is not encouraging for new entrants to the market.
Despite higher prices, Charlebois says people are actually spending less on groceries than they did last year. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the percentage of household disposable income dedicated to food increased by 1.1 per cent. That means the average Newfoundlander and Labradorian is spending 11 per cent of their income on food, which is the highest amount in the country. “Right now, consumers are under tremendous pressure, especially in Newfoundland,” says Charlebois.