Canadian consumers are bitter over the high price of President’s Choice chocolate

Having a sweet tooth comes at a price, and one shopper learned that the hard way after seeing the price of a President’s Choice chocolate bar.

On Thursday, August 15, Spence was shopping at a Real Canadian Superstore in St. Catharines, Ontario, when he came across a display of chocolate bars that prompted him to stop and take a photo. The photo, which he shared on Reddit, shows a wooden pallet stacked with boxes of President’s Choice chocolate bars, a brand owned by Loblaw. The dark and hazelnut chocolates each retail for $8.49. The sign reads: “Free deck of cards (for) every $25 spent.”

In his post titled “WTF,” Spence said: “I thought I’d go and check it out. The only thing for sale was watermelons. Prices keep going up. These bars were $5.99. Steal.”

Daily Hive reached out to Spence, who said the price increase was relatively recent.

“These bars were $7.50 last week (and) $5.99 a few months ago,” he said. “I also saw them on sale for $2.99 ​​about a year ago.”

Spence added that he only goes to the Real Canadian Superstore for items he can’t find elsewhere.

“I find Loblaws produce is not very good. The fruit doesn’t last as long as it used to. The prices are disgusting, especially at Zehrs,” he said. “I only go to the Real Canadian Superstore because some of the other stores I go to don’t have the same stuff. I go to Farm Boy, it’s more expensive, but the fruit is better.”

Walmart Canada

The Walmart Canada website says President’s Choice Hazelnut Chocolate costs about the same as Lindt’s Classic Swiss Hazelnut Milk Chocolate. The 300g chocolate bar sells for $8.78, or 29 cents more.

At No Frills, President’s Choice hazelnut chocolate is a penny more expensive, at $8.50.

No frills

At Loblaws, the same 300g President’s Choice hazelnut chocolate bar is even more expensive, at $8.99.

Loblaws

As for the $8.49 President’s Choice chocolates at the Real Canadian Superstore, Spence said: “It’s so ridiculous that a product is listed as a sale with a one-cent discount. The sale prices are the regular prices.”

Buyers were probably not pleased with the sharp price increase.

“I remember a time when hazelnut pallets were on sale for $0.47. For MONTHS!” wrote one commenter.

“How did these prices go from $5 to $8.50 so fast?” one Reddit user wondered.

“What the hell…they were selling them for $0.44 the other day at my local NoFrills,” another said.

And while others were upset about the prices, one commenter criticized Loblaws’ Marvel trading cards.

“Loblaws is so out of touch with reality. No one asked for superhero cards,” they wrote.

Daily Hive has reached out to Loblaws for more information on the reason for the price increase.

In April, The Atlantic A global chocolate shortage has been reported due to poor cocoa harvests in West Africa, causing cocoa prices to double.

However, one Redditor pointed out that despite the chocolate shortage, Walmart is also selling a 400g Waterbridge Belgian Milk Chocolate bar for just $6.98.

Walmart Canada

In July, Bloomberg reported that improving weather conditions in the West African region should lead to lower prices by October, hopefully in time for Halloween.