Agriculture Committee on Feb. 6th, 2023

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

So you do charge them a lump sum, sometimes to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars or a hundred thousand dollars. That's to farmers, for being able to sell their produce to you.

[François Thibault]

Generally, speaking with suppliers—

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I'm talking about farmers and produce growers specifically.

[François Thibault]

As I said, we negotiate the fees transparently, if there are any. I cannot comment on your specific example. At Metro, we want to make sure we have a transparent negotiation mechanism, and, as I said, it's something we negotiate in good faith transparently.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Okay. Thank you for that.

Do you charge back a percentage to the farmer in order for the farmer to get paid within 15 days versus what typically in the industry is 45 to 90 days?

[François Thibault]

We pay the local suppliers very quickly. It's part of our policy to make sure we pay local suppliers more quickly than under our normal payment terms.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

So what is faster for you? What is your normal term of payment for a grower?

[François Thibault]

It varies per negotiation, but my team tells me it's within days. We want to make sure we pay very quickly.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Well, that's interesting—within days. Are we talking 45 to 90 days? That seems to be standard with grocery stores—

[François Thibault]

No, I believe—

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

—unless they pay extra in a lump sum and you ask them to pay a price in order to be paid within 15 days.

[François Thibault]

Again, payment terms are part of the whole negotiation that we do with suppliers, so you can't take one specific example. You have to look at the whole thing that we negotiate with suppliers.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

We've also heard from you and from other grocers that you have private labels. We know you have private labels. I'm just wondering if you require your vendors to buy private label packaging from specific vendors that get a rebate from you.

[François Thibault]

I'm not aware of that.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Can you confirm or are you aware that there's an unwritten rule with your company that farmers are required to donate yearly to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars to charities of your choice and to purchase tickets to certain events or you'll cease to do business with them?

[François Thibault]

No, I'm not aware of that.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I've heard that from some farmers, and that's something that's very concerning to me, because when I see grocery stores charging our growers, nickel-and-diming them for things and for having the privilege of selling to big grocery stores, whether it's your company or other companies, sir, it's disheartening and it's worrisome with respect to our food security and food sovereignty going forward.

If we don't have farmers in the business of growing produce in this country to supply Canadians with healthy, wholesome, homegrown produce, then where are we going to get this from? Are we going to be relying on imports from other countries where we don't know what goes into these—

[The Chair, Liberal, Kody Blois]

Ms. Rood, we're going to have to leave it at that. That is your six minutes, but thank you for your questions.

Thank you, Mr. Thibault.

Mrs. Valdez, you have up to six minutes.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to the witnesses who are joining our committee.

I'm going to set some context, but the first questions are for both Mr. Thibault and Mr. Cope.

We learned through “Canada's Food Price Report” in 2022 that “lower-income households spend a higher proportion of their income on basic needs such as housing and food and will have a harder time maintaining their existing quality of life as costs go up.”

The question is, how do low-income households adapt their consumption habits when food prices increase?

Go ahead, Mr. Thibault.

[François Thibault]

We know and acknowledge how difficult it is for Canadians with rising food prices, and our team works tirelessly to make sure that we offer quality value to customers. Whether it's private label, our discount banners or our weekly promotions on thousands of products, that's what we try to do: offer the best value possible to customers in these difficult times.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Cope, go ahead.

[Paul Cope]

Thank you for the question.

Much like my colleague from Metro, that's what we're trying to do every single day through this: provide the best value we possibly can in marketplaces. That varies, because we service communities all across western Canada, and we tailor that to be a little different throughout the year to provide the best value we possibly can to our communities.

Along with that, we're actively involved in supporting those communities as well, because it's hard right now for some families with lower incomes. We're actively involved in any group and organization that's there to help support them. There's not just one approach to this. The other part is that you have to be open to solutions that groups and communities have to help support people.

I don't think there's a one-shot answer to this, but in terms of our stores, we try to provide the best value we possibly can for our customers.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you.

I can attest that in Mississauga—Streetsville many of my constituents are really struggling and are having a hard time, so I'm curious to hear what measures you're taking at your grocery stores to ensure your products remain accessible to low-income households.

[François Thibault]

Similar to what I've said, we try to make sure that we offer the best value possible to our consumers.

We do support the communities. I mentioned the support we do through food banks in Quebec and Ontario, which I think is important. As I said, I think it's also part of our corporate social responsibility to make sure we support the communities in which we operate. A combination of promotions, discounts, good offers through our discount banners and supporting the communities is how we want to make sure that we support the communities.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you.