While consumers continue to feel the pinch from high grocery bills, there are programs available to try to squeeze savings where possible.
Real Canadian Superstore Manager Mandy Robertson couldn't speak too much about food inflation or its ripple effect as individual stores don't set their own pricing, but she could share details of the various programs people can take advantage of.
She said the Flashfood app continues to grow in popularity. Bruised produce or items that have reached their expiration date are marked down and sold through the app in order to reduce food waste. The app recently expanded to include frozen items.
Other programs range from collecting PC Optimum points, price matching, and watching for various types of sales.
Use of Loblaw's Ad Match program may become easier now that two-page paper flyers are returning. Robertson said they're not in-store yet but would have been mailed out recently to some Sarnia residents.
While corporate stores can't offer senior discount days, Robertson did highlight their student discount program on Tuesdays where customers can earn 10 per cent back in points.
Robertson said for the most part, Superstore sites will maintain the same pricing regardless of the location.
"The only thing where you'd see something different, is we might have an overabundance of an item that we've asked for a reduction in price, so we might have something on sale that we're trying to clear out, but for the most part, all of the prices are the same," she said.
Three staple items are consistently sold below cost as part of the loss leader pricing policy: milk, bananas, and sugar. Robertson said the store buys milk for $6.89 per unit and the resale price is $5.89, bananas are purchased for $1.39 per kilogram and sold for $1.30, and sugar costs $3.80 per unit and is sold to customers for $3.29.
"It's something that all customers are purchasing so if we keep it low, it's going to bring customers into our store to purchase that," she said.
Although prices are not set by store managers, Robertson said she too fields questions and concerns about food prices. She briefly mentioned food inflation can be attributed to several factors such as transportation, utilities, food and labour costs.
"Grocers do have to increase prices when suppliers increase costs, which [does] put us in a very difficult situation. We're trying to keep costs low," said Robertson.
Loblaw President Galen Weston Jr., along with heads of other large grocer corporations, have received flack due to soaring costs. Commitments were made last year to stabilize food prices, however, most households continue to struggle.
"All we can say is, what we're getting from procurement...what we're bringing in, we're trying our best to keep prices low within our control by running the programs I mentioned," Robertson said.
Robertson was the guest speaker during the Kiwanis Club of Sarnia-Lambton Golden K meeting, held on Tuesday.
During her presentation, Robertson also noted upcoming renovations at the store, located on Murphy Road, which will see more of a selection of ethnic foods. She said renovations are expected to begin after Easter.