Metro accuses Loblaw of falsely implicating it in bread price-fixing scheme

In new court filings, Metro Inc. is accusing Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company of conspiring to implicate Metro in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.

Metro has submitted a statement of defence and crossclaim in Ontario Superior Court, responding to a class-action lawsuit that implicates it and several other grocers in the alleged conspiracy.

The grocer denies being involved in bread price-fixing, which is also the subject of a federal Competition Bureau investigation. 

Loblaw said the allegations by Metro are ridiculous and untrue. 

Bakery supplier Canada Bread Co. recently filed its own statement of defence in the class-action suit, in which it denied participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to fix the price of bread. 

In June, Canada Bread admitted to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act and was fined $50 million. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:MRU, TSX:L, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)

Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press