It may have started with a tweet about chicken breasts costing $37. Or it could have been $10 birch sticks.

The $9 butter didn’t help, or the $30 feta cheese – which is allegedly twice the price of the same brand offered by a competitor.

Whatever the social media tipping point was, many people are angry about rising grocery prices, particularly Loblaw brands. Add to that deflationary inflation, stingy inflation, greedy inflation, and now a growing number of people online are calling for a boycott.

Emily Johnson, a mental health and addiction worker in Milton, Ontario, who runs a quick center, said: “I think a lot of people don’t have much confidence in our political leaders holding companies accountable for the positions they put Canadians in.” The growing Reddit community called “Loblaws Out of Control.”

Johnson said in media statements: “People feel that voting with their dollars is the best way to show companies they’ve had enough.”

In a post last month, she and other subreddit moderators encouraged their now 45,000 members to start boycotting Loblaw and Loblaw-owned stores like Superstore and No Frills in May. The movement has gained momentum on other social media platforms like X and Twitter before and TikTok.

The post said: “Canadians are facing a cost of living crisis, and grocers are a major contributor. Vulnerable populations like seniors, people with disabilities, and those on fixed incomes are being left behind.”

Johnson said the goal is for the company to reduce prices by 15 percent and remove members-only pricing. But some grocery and economics experts say a boycott of a huge brand like Loblaw is unlikely to have much impact, if any.

Nicholas Lee, assistant professor in the economics department at Toronto Metropolitan University, said Loblaws is sensitive to bad press like any company. But he added he is skeptical about the planned boycott.

Loblaws has previously shown in its battle with Pepsico/Frito-Lay that it is willing to leave shelves empty in its money fight with suppliers, so I find it unlikely that a boycott like this… will make them change their mind.”

The planned boycott indicates how frustrated many consumers are about food prices, which have risen everywhere, not just in stores owned by Loblaw, said Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

In a later post, the Reddit group acknowledged the problem extends to the “Big Five” – Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart, and Costco – and they also post a list of alternative shopping options for them.

Charlebois said Loblaws is heavily targeted for two reasons. First, because it is the best grocery store in the country. Second, because its CEO and former CEO, Galen Weston, was a very visible face of the company, and now people see him as the villain.

Charlebois said: “I guess most Canadians don’t know who the CEO of Metro is.” “He’s paying the price for this PR strategy.”

This is reflected in the hashtag “Boycott Loblaws” trending on social media, and in the subreddit, where Weston’s picture is often used in memes, and his name is often cited when people are angry or confused about Loblaws prices.