Metro says it's holding prices steady as usual this winter in wake of Loblaw campaign

Grocery chain Metro Inc. said Tuesday (Oct. 18) it is holding food prices steady as usual this holiday season, a day after one of its biggest rivals rolled out a price-freeze campaign to fight inflation.

The Montreal-based company said it will not accept cost increases from its suppliers during its busiest time of the year “to avoid any retail price changes, with rare exceptions.''

“This is a long-standing practice at Metro,'' the grocer's vice-president of public affairs and communications Marie-Claude Bacon said in an email. “This keeps retail prices stable for our customers in our stores.''

Metro's comments come a day after Loblaw Companies Ltd. said it would freeze prices on all its in-house No Name products until Jan. 31, 2023.

Metro's price hold applies to both private-label brands and national brand products and runs from Nov. 1 to Feb. 5, Bacon said.

Sobeys parent Empire Co. Ltd. Inc., who along with Loblaw and Metro is one of Canada's three biggest grocers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it plans to hold prices over the holidays.

Loblaw and Metro's comments follow similar moves by grocers in other countries.

In August, French supermarket chain Carrefour announced plans to freeze prices on about 100 of its house-brand products until Nov. 30.

In June, German grocer Lidl's U.S. arm introduced a summer price-cutting campaign to ease the inflationary burden on customers.