Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadians were subjected to a price fixing scheme on bread, and a handful of companies faced big fines for their role in the scandal. But a lack of competition in the industry means prices keep going up.
Price fixing our daily bread
Lack of competition is pushing the price of groceries out of Canadians’ price range
Loblaw and parent company to pay out $500 million in bread price fixing settlement
Grocery giant Loblaw (Loblaw Companies Limited) and parent company George Weston Limited announced yesterday a $500 million settlement had been reached concerning their involvement in a bread price-fixing scandal.
Canada Bread fined $50 million over price-fixing
'Leniency' settlement follows breadmaker's guilty plea
A storied Canadian producer of bread and bakery products has a month to pay a $50 million fine for price-fixing in an ongoing federal probe which still has eyes on several major retailers. Ontario’s Superior Court on Wednesday sentenced Toronto-based Canada Bread Co. after the company pled guilty to four counts of fixing bread prices […] Read more
Flatbread firm FGF buys Weston Foods bakery business
Weston selling to focus on retail, real estate
The parent company for Canadian grocery and retail giant Loblaw is taking a major step out of the baked goods business. George Weston Ltd. announced Oct. 26 it would sell its Weston Foods fresh and frozen bakery businesses to an arm of Toronto-based bakery firm FGF Brands for $1.2 billion. The company expects to close […] Read more
Millers, bakers fret as drought withers North America’s spring wheat
Reuters – Millers and bakers are draining wheat reserves and paying more for spring wheat used in baking, as drought shrivels crops across the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S. Plains that produce more than half of the world’s supply. U.S. and Canadian farmers are bracing for a sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to the […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Wheat futures underpinned for now
However, traders still watching headlines
MarketsFarm — U.S. wheat futures have climbed higher over the past week, with the largest gains in Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat, as global uncertainty over the COVID-19 pandemic provided some support. However, that uncertainty could also makes predicting market trends rather difficult, according to an analyst. “All of my comments come with a […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat climbs on global demand for bread
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures surged on Wednesday, with the May contract on the Chicago Board of Trade hitting a two-month high on a mix of technical buying and global demand for bread as the coronavirus prompts consumer stockpiling, analysts said. Corn futures closed modestly higher while soybean futures turned lower. CBOT May […] Read more
North America’s millers, bakers scramble to satisfy bread binge
Chicago/Winnipeg | Reuters — North American flour mills and bakeries are rushing to boost production as the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus leads to consumer stockpiling of staples such as bread and pasta. The virus’ spread prompted orders to stay at home in some U.S. states, including New York, California and Illinois last week, following […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat jumps to one-month top
Soy climbs, corn little changed
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures surged nearly four per cent on Monday and hit a one-month high, buoyed by strong buying by domestic flour millers as consumers stockpile bread, and signs of a pick-up in global export business, traders said. Soybeans rose on expectations of rising demand for soymeal, a feed ingredient. Corn […] Read more
Sudan to continue to subsidize bread but with ‘justice’
Khartoum | Reuters — Sudan will continue to subsidize bread prices during transitional rule after Omar al-Bashir’s ouster but wants to achieve “justice” in distributing income supports, its trade and industry minister said on Wednesday. Bread shortages, caused by difficulties in raising hard currency to import wheat, triggered mass protests which — with the help […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
