At a time when inflation is weighing more and more heavily on the grocery basket of Quebecers, Option Consommateurs is launching a demand for collective action targeting four major processors who have allegedly inflated the price of meat in recent years.
These giants, including Cargill and JBS Food Company, would have agreed to fix the price of beef on the rise, maintains in an interview with Mario Dumont, Sylvie De Bellefeuille, lawyer at Option consommateurs and responsible for the class action.
“These four big producers control about 85% of the Canadian beef market, so they’re really big players. What we blame these companies for is having agreed among themselves to fix the price of beef on the rise. This means that the beef that we buy at the grocery store, at the butcher’s or even in restaurants has been artificially inflated, ”explains Me De Bellefeuille.
However, it remains difficult to quantify the price increase that would have been caused by the alleged cartel.
“Class actions have also been launched in the United States, there is one that has been launched in British Columbia as well. One of the companies has settled out of course in the United States. So other pieces of evidence will come in as we go along,” adds the lawyer for Option consommateurs.
If the action must first be authorized by the court, it could target a very large pool of Quebecers who have paid too much for their meat in recent years.
“It affects all people who eat beef,” she concludes.