2024-02-25 15:45:00
This year, food retailers have opted to sell clementines in 4 lb (1.8 kg) boxes, rather than 5 lb (2.3 kg). Are we facing another case of refilling at the grocery store? The answer is more complex than it seems…
It was while comparing a Christmas decoration made from a box of clementines from the year before that an Internet user noticed that it was larger than the one she had just bought this fall.
She contacted us with supporting photos. Not only did his box of the year contain a pound less of clementines, but it also sold at a higher price, according to his research.
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An Internet user was surprised to see that a box of clementines purchased in November was smaller than the one purchased twelve months before.
Photo: Courtesy
It’s hard to talk about reduplication with the clementine, because it is not a format that has disappeared to be replaced by another smaller one, however explains Guy Milette, executive vice-president of the Courchesne Larose Group, one of the main importers of clementines from Morocco.
His company introduced clementine to North America in the 1970s. It then arrived in 10 kg boxes, repackaged according to customer needs.
For around twenty years, we have found small boxes in different formats from 4 to 7 lb, he continues, but only the 4 lb and 5 lb formats still exist today.
Did you know?
Clementine is a cross between mandarin and Seville orange. It was discovered by chance by Father Clément – hence the name Clementine – at the beginning of the 20th century, in Algeria. Today we mainly import it from Morocco and Spain.
Around ten varieties of clementines can be found on Quebec shelves. The small orange fruit is available all year round, but its peak season is from November to February.
Unlike strawberries, whose introduction of a new 750 ml format last spring (New window) was labeled as a case of reduplication, clementines have always been sold in one or other of the formats .
Although we are an importer, we do not decide for the customer the format they want to use, explains Guy Milette. It is the marketing department of each retailer that determines its strategy for the year before the start of the season.
It becomes a choice of the banner. 1.8 kg and 2.3 kg formats exist… and it’s all a question of price.
What’s important is that the format is never hidden, he says. The consumer knows exactly the weight of the box he is purchasing.
Help us measure the extent of re-flation
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A retailer moving from a larger format to a smaller one could indeed be considered a case of reduplication in the eyes of Jordan LeBel, professor specializing in food marketing at Concordia University. But it all depends on the selling price, he warns.
And with fruits and vegetables, whose prices fluctuate from one season to the next – and even from one week to the next – the issue quickly becomes complex.
We have a huge loss in fruits and vegetables, the expert also insists.
In the case of perishables, re-inflation can also be positive. How many clementines from the crate end up in the trash?
The choice of retailers
About 10 years ago, the majority of retailers offered the 5 lb (2.3 kg) format.
IGA says it made the transition to the 4 lb (1.8 kg) format a few years ago, in 2020, while Metro, Super C and Walmart made the change this season.
This is not a question of reflation, assures Metro spokesperson Geneviève Grégoire. There has always been more than one format on the market.
Loblaw, for its part, has retained the 5 lb (2.3 kg) format at Maxi and Provigo.
We started the season in November with 2.3 kg boxes of clementines before recently switching to smaller bags, explains Loblaw spokesperson Geneviève Poirier. This should not be seen as a case of re-flation.
When it comes to fruits and vegetables, there are many uncertainties that influence prices and formats that must be taken into account, she continues. The length of the clementine season varies greatly from year to year due to several factors such as bad weather, quality and abundance of crops, etc.
For example, at the beginning of December, the 5 lb (2.3 kg) case sold for $4.99 at a discount at Provigo, the same price as the 4 lb (1.8 kg) case at IGA. Metro, for its part, retailed the 4 lb (1.8 kg) box at $5.99.
Last week, you could buy clementines at a discount for $2.49 per pound or in a 4 lb (1.8 kg) box for $4.87 at Super C, but for $6.99 at Metro.
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The price of fruits and vegetables is notably influenced by supply and demand, seasonality, but above all the weather.
For example, Morocco’s clementines were hit last year by drought and an earthquake. Despite the bad weather, there will be no shortage of clementines, reassures Mario Lalancette, of the Quebec Association of Fruit and Vegetable Distribution, but their price may increase. This can also be influenced by the cost of transport and the exchange rate.
All these factors are taken into account by retailers, according to Guy Milette. Over the years, their strategies change, he says. Maybe one of the banners will return to the 5 lb (2.3 kg) box next year. In the meantime, the smaller checkout can allow them to display a more attractive retail price for consumers.
In bulk, in bags or in crates
Moroccan clementines are imported in their retail format, in 4 lb (1.8 kg) or 5 lb (2.3 kg) cases. 22 lb (10 kg) boxes are also imported for the sale of bulk clementines. As for the 33 lb (15 kg) cases, they are intended for repacking once they arrive in Canada and are sold in mesh bags of 1 to 4 lb (0.5 to 1.8 kg).
Standardized formats
Unlike other fruits and vegetables, there are no rules governing the formats in which clementines are distributed.
Fresh carrots and potatoes, for example, must be sold at the grocery store in packaging sizes predetermined by a document incorporated into the Food Safety Regulations.
At least four sizes are listed for carrots and eight for potatoes. In particular, they can be sold in bags of 2.27 kg, 4.54 kg and 22.7 kg, or in any other packaging of less than 1.36 kg.
Similar rules do not exist for clementine. Moreover, other fruits and vegetables that appeared in the document, such as beets, sweet potatoes, pears and peaches, were removed in July 2022, to simplify services, save money and remove obstacles to innovation, writes the federal government.
It would be simpler for consumers if everyone used the same formats, Guy Milette agrees.
A suggestion that applies as much to clementines as to other food products, the multiplication of formats of which can confuse consumers at the grocery store and camouflage proven cases of reduplication.
With information from Justine Grenier and data from Jean-François Gagné Bérubé, from the Glouton application
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