Canadian shopper claims Loblaw store is ripping people off on donation bags

A shopper claims that a Loblaw store is selling food donation bags for more than they’re worth.

Reddit user celtisoccidentalis_ shared photos of the bundles being sold at Provigo, a Loblaw-owned grocery store based in Quebec.

“Provigo selling $5 food bags for charity when there’s barely $4 worth of ‘food’ in there,” reads the post. The photos show a bag priced at $5 and what appears to be its contents: four cans of Loblaw No Name-branded chicken noodle condensed soup. The post also includes a screenshot of the price of the same can of soup at a Loblaw store online, on sale for $0.89 each. In an email statement, Loblaw said the retail value of the $5 food bank donation bag in the Reddit post is actually about $6.

“The screenshot that is shared in the post is from Maxi’s website, our hard discount banner in Quebec. The regular and sales price of products may vary by store banner,” said the spokesperson.

On Provigo’s site, the can is priced at $1.49. However, at other Loblaw-owned grocers like Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills, the soup is on sale for $0.79, regularly priced at $0.99.

Canadians flooded the comments of the Reddit post with disappointment.

“Wow.. they have no shame..Pocketing $1.44 of funds that should be going to the food bank, for every bag they sell.. Literally stealing from the poor,” reads one comment.

“Holy sh*t this is the scummiest behaviour I’ve seen yet,” added another. “Keep in mind this is a Loblaws product, so the retail price you pay is nowhere near what it cost them. In reality they’re likely profiting $3+ on your charity. Disgusting.”

Others recommend shoppers donate directly to food banks.

“Yuck. If you’re in a position to donate to the food bank, donate cash! They can stretch it a lot further,” wrote one person.

“Just donate straight cash. That gives the food bank the best buying power. No one wants sh**ty soups, food bank can go buy real food for people like fresh veg and meat,” explained another Redditor.

This isn’t the first time shoppers have accused the grocer of doing this.

In May, someone from Toronto who said they frequently buy the $5 pre-packaged donation bags claimed they picked one up that contained only $3.17 worth of items. Last month, another person shared photos of what was in a donation bag worth $25 that was given to a local food bank. Adding up all of the prices in the photo, the bundle was actually worth more than its price, containing $31.77 worth of products.

In a comment on a post from nine months ago, someone who claimed to be a cashier at Loblaws said stores donate the contents and what you pay for the bag.