Grocers fight meat, cheese thieves

A group of grocers in North Bay, Ont. has banded together to combat organized theft rings who are stealing meat and high-end cheeses from their stores.

Seven grocery stores–the Metro, Dollar's Your Independent Grocer, Food Basics, Sobeys, Price Chopper and two No Frills in North Bay are sharing leads with one another and also police in an effort to catch the thieves.

“If someone has been in our stores and they’ve been chased out, they’ll usually head to the next store,” says Metro store manager Charlie Lang. So it makes sense to let other grocers know to be on the lookout quickly, he said. The stores are also sharing surveillance footage.

Lang says grocers in town started working together three weeks ago after meeting with police about the ongoing thefts. The crooks are mostly stealing meat, seafood and expensive cheeses, which it’s believed they are reselling to buy drugs.

Police also gave the retailers advice on how to spot professional crooks. For instance, they usually wear baggy coats with deep pockets to conceal products as they walk out of the store and they often work in groups.

North Bay Police have made some arrests recently in connection with thefts from grocery stores, according an article published in The Sudbury Star.