Canada Bread fined $50M for role in bread price-fixing scandal

TORONTO –

Canada Bread Co. has been fined $50 million after pleading responsible to its function in a legal price-fixing scheme that inflated the wholesale value of bread in Canada.

The Competition Bureau of Canada says it’s the highest price-fixing advantageous ever imposed by a Canadian court docket.

It says Canada Bread, a subsidiary of Mexico-based Grupo Bimbo, pleaded responsible to 4 counts of price-fixing below the Competition Act.

The Competition Bureau says the bread maker admitted that it organized with its competitor, Weston Foods (Canada) Inc., to extend costs for numerous bagged and sliced bread merchandise, equivalent to sandwich bread, hotdog buns and rolls.

The price-fixing resulted in two value will increase, one in 2007 and one other in 2011.

At the time of the price-fixing association, Canada Bread was below the possession of Maple Leaf Foods, and Grupo Bimbo says it is contemplating “all legal options against those responsible.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed June 21, 2023.