Galen Weston, head of both Loblaws and Weston’s Bread
companies, said it was Loblaws that told the federal Bureau of Competition that
there was price-fixing on wholesale and retail bread prices from 2001 to March,
2015.
Because Loblaws blew the whistle, neither it nor its
employees will be prosecuted.
That may not turn out to be true for others involved in the
collusion which apparently included supermarket chains and another bread
wholesaler.
The biggest competitor in the bread business is Canada Bread
which Maple Leaf Foods Inc. sold to Bimbo Bakery of Mexico in 2014.
Neither the companies being investigated, nor the Bureau of
Competition Policy, have come forward with other company identities.
But Metro Inc., which also owns Food Basics, did issue a
statement some time ago saying it is cooperating with the investigators.
