Galen Weston, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Loblaw Companies (L), saw his compensation rise 55% in 2022 to $8.4 million as Canadians struggled with runaway food inflation.
Other grocery CEOs also saw their compensation rise last year as food prices increased more than 10% and outpaced the total inflation rate in Canada.
Michael Medline, CEO of Sobeys parent company Empire Company (EMP), earned $8.7 million in 2022, while Metro (MRU) CEO Eric La Flèche took home $5.4 million.
The Canadian grocery chains have come under scrutiny as food prices in Canada continue to rise while other areas of inflation ease.
Statistics Canada data indicates that grocery prices rose 9.8% in 2022, and 10.6% year-over-year this past February alone, which was more than double Canada’s inflation rate.
All of the grocery CEOs recently appeared before a parliamentary committee, and each said that higher food prices were not caused by profit-mongering and that their margins on food sales remain low despite inflationary pressures.
But all three grocery chains earned much higher profits in 2022 compared with their average performance over the past five years, according to a report last fall by the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
Loblaw’s stock has risen 9% in the last 12 months to $125.91 per share and is trading near its 52-week high of $127.19.