Hungry for a bargain: Rising food costs fuel surge in discounted grocery stores

With the cost of living rising, Ron Robinson is determined to save wherever he can – starting with his grocery bill.

this is the reason montreal man Liquidation Mary’s Shops, an ultra discount grocery chain where prices can be up to 50 percent lower than regular grocery stores.

He recalls buying a steak for about six dollars.

“If you go to a big box store, you’ll probably pay $20, $25 for a three-pack,” Robinson said. Cost of living.

He’s not the only one chasing these bargains. Liquidation-style grocery stores are growing in popularity across the country. Canadians struggle with high food costs,

For example, Bianca Amor has Liquidation Supercentre, which has grown to 17 locations across Western Canada in 25 years, and in Southern Ontario, Grocery Outlet, which now has more than a dozen locations.

For liquidation mary, Established in 2012, The number of Quebec grocery chains has more than doubled places In the last year alone. Co-owner Mary Eve Bratton says she plans to open a total of 10 more in 2026 18 par province.

Bratton says the secret to his store’s extremely low prices is really no secret. Like any other liquidator, she says they buy unwanted food products from major retailers at deep discounts and resell them to consumers at extremely low prices.

For example, Bratton says a liquidator might have a contract with Walmart. “They take the product off the shelf. It’s not because it’s no good, but they have to get rid of the stuff.”

That “stuff” could be surplus or mislabeled items, she says, such as a bottle of ketchup that doesn’t have a barcode or a box of unopened chicken patties. The stock looks different every day and so do the shelves.

“I compare myself to winemakers because sometimes people come, they see something and if they come an hour later – no more,” Bratton said.

The unpredictability has hardly fazed consumers. Bratton says her stores welcome an average of 30,000 customers each week, and the Facebook group in which she posts bargains has swelled to more than 139,000 members.

‘You can’t reduce the rent’

As for the reason for the attraction to these stores, Dr. Yu Ma, a marketing professor at McGill University, cites the current economic climate.

Grocery prices have increased by more than 27 percent in the last five years. According to Statistics Canada,

And as inflation has squeezed household finances over the past few years, Ma says many families are going paycheck-to-paycheck and looking for ways to stretch their money further.

“You can’t cut power, you can’t cut rent or mortgage payments,” Ma said.

“I think the easiest thing to do is cut back on grocery spending, and food is becoming so expensive these days. It’s not surprising to me that people are looking to alternative shopping outlets to find something more affordable.”

Jordan LeBel, a professor at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business who specializes in food marketing, says there’s another factor that likely contributed to Liquidation Mary’s success.

“The company has focused on places where the rents are maybe a little cheaper to work in,” Lebel said. Cost of living. “And they’re in neighborhoods where socioeconomic dynamics might favor this kind of concept.”

Major retailers are also benefiting from liquidating stores, says Sylvain Charlebois, who runs the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.

If a can gets damaged or a box gets opened, “they know Liquidation Mary or another company is actually able to pick it up at a discount,” he said., “And it’s better to sell it at a loss than to waste it.”

Best first, no worse later

according to Canadian Food Inspection AgencyBest-before dates indicate optimal food quality and freshness – not whether a food is safe to eat.

Charlebois says dry goods like grains and pasta can last well past their best by date, as long as they’re opened and stored properly. He says some canned goods can stay on the shelf for years. He says more consumers now know this, and with food inflation rising, they are overcoming the stigma of buying foods that are past their prime.

“I think people are moving beyond this, allowing themselves to recognize that there are ways to save more money,” Charlebois said.,

He says more people buying products from liquidated grocery stores means less food waste and less pressure on food systems to raise prices for everyone.

Ma also noted that the increase in grocery store liquidations also highlights the rejection of systemic waste and inefficiency in Canada’s food supply chain.

“In the food supply chain, we wanted the best of the best,” Ma said. “We actually waste billions of dollars of food every year because of (over)storing, because of (cosmetic imperfections), but they’re perfectly fine for consumption.”

Although LeBel says the impact of liquidating grocery stores on reducing food waste may be modest, the value lies in the potential ripple effect that could help curb waste more broadly.

“The real impact is teaching consumers that it’s possible to buy fruit, to buy food products that are close to the expiration date but still good,” LeBel said.

change stance

Given that food insecurity and high food prices are now affecting more people, Ma says, discount food shopping is catching on at almost every socio-economic level.

“So as the audience for these types of stores continues to grow, I think it will become even more popular over time.”

Charlebois says he agrees, adding that he expects more people to brag about the deals they get at some of these centers.

Breton also says she’s noticed There has been a change in the way people are thinking about best by dates on food products, and grocery chains have taken advantage of this. Much of what Liquidation Mary sells is either near or past its best by date – food products that otherwise would have been thrown away.

“Just five years ago, people were looking, ‘Mmm, no, I’m not touching that box because it’s expired.,” Bratton said. “Now, because of the economy, people say ‘Oh, it’s 88 cents, I’m going to try it.’,