Loblaw's Shrinkflation Problem: What's Happened to President's Choice

When Canadians pushed back on high grocery prices in 2023 and 2024, a common piece of advice was: switch to store brands. Loblaw's President's Choice and No Name lines were positioned as the budget-friendly alternative to name brands. Save money, same quality.

The problem is that store brands have been quietly shrinking too — and because they're already seen as the "cheap option," the reductions fly even further under the radar.

How we tracked it

When Ghostflation users scan receipts, we capture item names, prices, and package sizes. By matching the same product across multiple scans over time, we can detect size changes. We also cross-reference product barcodes against manufacturer data when available.

The following cases come from that dataset, supplemented by CFIA product recall and labelling data where relevant.

President's Choice reductions (last 12 months)

PC Blue Menu High Fibre Pasta **900g → 750g** (−16.7%) The shelf price barely moved — from $2.49 to $2.59. But the effective unit price rose from $0.277/100g to $0.345/100g — a **24.6% real increase**. This is one of the most commonly purchased pantry items in Canada.

PC Shredded Mozzarella (340g bag) **340g → 280g** (−17.6%) Price dropped slightly from $5.99 to $5.49, which looks like a win. Unit price went from $1.76/100g to $1.96/100g — a **11.4% real increase**.

PC Thick Cut Bacon **500g → 375g** (−25%) Price dropped from $8.99 to $7.49. Unit cost: from $1.80/100g to $2.00/100g. **+11.1%.**

PC Greek Yogurt (750g tub) **750g → 650g** (−13.3%) Price unchanged at $4.99. Real unit price increase: **15.4%.**

No Name reductions

No Name Peanut Butter (1kg) **1kg → 750g** (−25%) Same yellow label. Noticeably shorter jar. Price went from $4.49 to $3.99 — a price decrease that obscures a significant unit price hike: from $4.49/kg to $5.32/kg. **+18.5%.**

No Name Canned Tomatoes (796mL) **796mL → 680mL** (−14.6%) The can physically shrank. Price held at $1.49. Unit increase: **+17.1%.**

No Name Orange Juice (1.65L) **1.65L → 1.36L** (−17.6%) Price unchanged at $3.99. Real cost increase: $2.42/L to $2.93/L. **+21%.**

The pattern

These changes share several characteristics:

• - No announcement. Loblaw has not publicly communicated these reductions as shrinkflation. They are presented as routine "product updates."
• - Packaging redesigns as cover. Several coincided with label refreshes, making the size change harder to notice on the shelf.
• - Category: staples. These aren't specialty items. Pasta, yogurt, peanut butter, canned tomatoes — the basics that Canadians buy without thinking.
• - The optics are managed. By reducing the sticker price alongside the size, manufacturers create the appearance of value while the unit economics move in the opposite direction.

Who's responsible?

It's worth separating Loblaw as a retailer from the brand owners. President's Choice products are manufactured and packaged by various suppliers under Loblaw's private label. No Name products similarly.

Loblaw sets the specifications and approves the packaging. They are aware of size changes — they have to be, for labelling compliance. The decision to not communicate these changes proactively is a choice.

What you can do

• - Check the unit price, not the sticker price. It's printed in small type on the shelf label.
• - Compare size across visits. If a jar looks slightly shorter than you remember, check the weight label.
• - Scan your receipts. Ghostflation will flag when the same product appears at a different size than previously recorded.
• - Consider alternatives. When a store brand has shrunk significantly, name-brand alternatives on sale sometimes offer better value per gram.