Loblaw and President's Choice: Less for More

Last year I wrote a bit of a rant about bagels. I used that example from a then-recent grocery shopping expedition to how some companies lower the content of a product and keep the price unchanged, and then seek to hide what they've done. This is common marketing practice, with the idea being (as I see it) to choose what the companies see as the lesser evil over raising the price when their costs increase.

The bagels in question were a product of Weston Bakeries (a division of George Weston) which are sold in many supermarkets. At the time I gave Loblaw a bit of a pass since, as the retailer, they were presumably only passing along the supplier's products and pricing, with their usual mark-up so that they, too, can make a profit. That would be perfectly acceptable to me.

However I failed to note one very pertinent fact, of which I was unaware at the time, that Loblaw's major shareholders are George Weston Limited and W. Gaelen Weston, who together hold a majority ownership of Loblaw. That changed my thinking, but only slightly since Weston Bakeries' products are, as mentioned, sold in other stores. This alone does not make Loblaw a party to what I see as deceptive marketing. Unfortunately I now find that it does not stop there, and in fact turns my focus directly in Loblaw's direction.

Consider the picture below of what at first glance appear to be identical products: packages of President's Choice brand hummus. These were purchased a few weeks apart. The height, diameter and design are identical from a typical viewing angle, such as when cruising the aisles. If you look closely, there is one notable difference. Can you see it?

The answer is in the lower left of the label: the net weight of the contents. The older product held 454 grams (about one pound) and the newer one holds 400 grams. Of course the price was the same. If you study the packaging carefully you will notice a few more differences:

• The UPC (universal product code) is changed. Presumably this was legally necessary to disclose that this is a different product.
• The top of the contents is lower inside the container.
• The bottom of the container was flat but now sports a deep concave indentation.

You now get 12% less product for the same price as before the change, and a package designed to mislead the buyer to believe that nothing has changed. In my opinion this is very deceptive marketing even if it is technically legal under food packaging regulations.

It does not end with hummus. If you shop at Loblaw you may want to pay close attention to other President's Choice products. They are using the same trick with other PC-labelled products. My trust and even loyalty to the brand has been eroded to nothing. For this household, grocery dollars will begin to be spread among other stores. Regrettably, it is difficult to avoid Loblaw entirely since there are few price-competitive alternatives and products from other suppliers often use the same deceptive practice, and those products appear everywhere.

No matter the sector, consumer or business, I do my best to avoid giving my money to businesses that lie or deceive. If there were a store where I could reward them for not going down this route, I would, but it doesn't seem to exist. Further, I expect to see the practice used more frequently as costs increase, such as may occur when they sign a new contract with their employees' union.