Metro CEO Eric La Flèche on tariffs, GST holiday, price increases and more

Metro chief Eric La Flèche sat down with reporters Tuesday (Jan. 28) following the grocery retailer’s annual general meeting. Read on for the highlights:

Tariffs

“I can't comment. There's nothing specific out there. What the U.S. is going to do versus what the Canadian government could or could not do on U.S. imports—we just have to wait to see. My biggest concern is the Canadian dollar… There's a consequence on our costs if the Canadian dollar weakens or is weaker. It is weaker today than it was a few months ago. So we're feeling that pressure. How do we prepare? We prepare by getting the best sources of supply that we can. We prepare by buying Canadian and local as much as we can. But there are certain products, especially at this time of year, that we don't produce in Canada and we don't sell in Canada.

READ: Donald Trump signals 25% tariffs on Canadian imports could be coming Feb. 1

“I hope this trade war will not concern food and food prices for everybody, for Canadian citizens, for Quebecers. Nobody would like to see tariffs on imported food, but we'll let the government do their job and defend Canadian interests as best they can. So it's a very volatile situation, and we will just have to wait and see.”

GST holiday

“We did not see a spike in the tax holiday on those products. I'm sure it was appreciated by customers, but speaking for us in both food and pharmacy, we didn't really see any spike in volume or demand because of it. It was a lot of work for our teams to get this done in December... but we got it done, and it is what it is.”

READ: How the GST holiday distorted Canada's food inflation story

Price increases

“We do have a freeze where we don't take any cost increases between November and early February. So, in the next few weeks, there will be some price increases reflecting the increases in costs that we negotiated and accepted. I would say the quantity of requests for price increases is back to more normal levels compared to the pandemic years for sure. There's variance in the quantity of the increase. It varies by supplier, by category, by commodity.

“But… there's pressure mostly due to the Canadian dollar, and that could translate into some price increases. We'll manage it as best we can to mitigate and minimize the impact on retail prices for our customers… There's a little more pressure than there was a few months ago.”

Adonis 

“[The London, Ont. location is] under construction, so it's going to open next summer. Looking forward to that. Adonis is a good banner for us. It's a very differentiated concept. They have a loyal customer base that draws from far. We're in Toronto, in the GTA area, and in Ottawa, but we decided to go to the London area too, because there's a customer base to serve over there. And we’re pleased with Adonis’s performance. We see potential for more. So we're going to go gradual, and we're looking for more openings over the coming years.”