Many people around the world struggle with the cost of food. The country's largest grocery chains say they aren't to blame for inflating prices.
The price of products under the No Name brand will stay frozen for three months.
The offer was not well-received by the people who received it. Some thought it was a PR stunt and others thought it was too late.
There are reasons for the sour reaction. The cost of food is still going up despite the fact that inflation has slowed.
Grocers are reporting record earnings as well. The first quarter of this year saw a 40% increase in the company's profit and a 17% increase in its net earnings.
This dilemma has become political in Canada, where distrust in grocery magnates runs deep from a recent bread price- fixing scandal.
The phenomenon ofgreedflation is when grocery chains take advantage of inflation to raise prices more than needed.
Canada's parliament passed a motion accusing grocery CEOs of "corporate greed" on the day Mr Weston's letter was sent. The sector is being investigated by the competition watchdog.
There is an idea of greedflation. It is complicated according to economists.
The increase in grocery store prices is hard to ignore. In September, Canada's food prices were up 11.4%.
Charlebois, a professor at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, has been publishing an annual report on Canadian food prices since 2010.
There is a problem in Canada. bread and cereals were up 12.4% in July, and oils and fats were up 23.4%.
The cost of food in the US was up 13.5% in September.
The cost of food is going up in all three countries because of a surge in demand and the Covid-19 outbreak. The war in Ukraine has affected supplies of wheat and other crops, causing global prices to soar.
The growth of some crops has been disrupted by bad weather and fuel prices have gone up.
In a show of solidarity, grocery companies around the world have frozen their prices.
Weis Markets launched a multi-million dollar campaign to cut prices on its best selling frozen products. In August, France's Carrefour froze the price on 100 everyday products, while the UK's Asda and Morrisons both reduced prices in April.
It was too late for Canada's Loblaw to freeze prices.
David MacDonald is an economist with the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives.
The prices of goods that the grocer froze had gone up. Chicken wings with no name were C$11.99. They're now $13.98.
The price increases at his stores are out of his company's control. A Canadian member of parliament disagrees.
The New Democrat said that the announcement shows that the CEO of the company always had the power to keep prices low.
He criticized the company for making the announcement on the same day that parliament was going to vote on probing the profits of grocery retailers.
There is likely a moral call for companies to reform their business practices in order to curb inflation and help struggling families, according to Mr. MacGregor.
Grocers made an average of 1.5 billion dollars in the first two quarters of the year, up from 800 million in the first quarter. Despite the increase in production costs, their margins are higher than they were before the epidemic.
Grocers attribute higher margins to increased sales.
The bread price-fixing scandal that saw major retailers conspiring with commercial bakeries to set higher prices over 14 years only came to light a few years ago.
The $25 gift cards were offered as an olive branch by the company.
Mr Charlebois said that it bothered a lot of Canadians.
After researching recent earnings reports of both American and Canadian grocery giants, Mr Charlebois said he wasn't sure if the blame for rising costs should be on retailers.
Gross margins for companies have increased by small amounts despite revenues going up.
They have posted record profits in dollars. When you look at margins, they're not very different.
He warned that this does not rule out wrongdoing in other parts of the supply chain.
Meat packers in Quebec are accused of conspiring to raise the price of beef in the province. A similar lawsuit was settled in the US by one of the companies.
Suppliers have accused grocery retailers of not accepting price increases and imposing fines on them, which they say should be fixed by implementing an industry-wide code of conduct in Canada.
The decision by parliament's agriculture committee and the competition bureau to look at the grocery retail market will hopefully lead to better practices in the future.
Mr Charlebois said it was a good thing for Canadians who would get some clarity on how their food is priced.
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