It seems today a bunch of people got sent an e-mail from the supermarket chain Loblaws where it implied they were understanding of people’s struggle with food price inflation and as a result they will be freezing prices for its no name branded products. AS they even say in their statement
“Anyone who regularly visits the grocery store knows that over the past year the cost of food has increased rapidly. In fact, the price of an average basket of groceries is up about 10% this year…and almost 15% over two years. For some items — like butter, apples, soups, and chips — prices are up much more than that.
That’s why, to help Canadians hit the brakes on food inflation, we are focusing on what is in our control. Starting today, we’re freezing prices of all no name products — more than 1,500 grocery essentials, sold in our stores across the country — until January 31, 2023.”
But the reaction from the public seemed generally negative such as people claiming it’s too little too late or at the same time some people who work in the industry say these kinds of prices freezes are normal during these times to suggest they aren’t doing anything special. That creates more of the distrust that this is all for business optics versus actually wanting to help people financially.
I bet everyone who came up with the idea didn’t expect tis outcome huh? It makes you wonder if large companies like these can ever win the public’s trust fully versus people assuming they are always being taken advantage of by the company. I guess based on these comments the only real way to build that trust is to do these kinds of deeds early and often when you don’t have to per se.