COVID-19 vaccine mandates may have briefly boosted the price of goods, but keeping shelves stocked isn’t a major issue, grocery stores say, despite photos circulating of empty aisles.
The information comes as a convoy of truckers heads to Ottawa in protest of vaccine mandates, something they say could worsen supply chain issues. “Overall, supply chain pressure has started to ease,” said Eric La Fleche, CEO of Metro Inc., during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday.
The issue of unvaccinated truckers, he added, “will have mostly an inflationary impact on the cost of merchandise coming in from the U.S., produce especially.” But, for the most part, La Fleche said, “we’re getting the merchandise.” Read more: GoFundMe confirms trucker freedom convoy funds being held until ‘clear plan’ is revealed Metro isn’t the only grocery store reporting a minimal impact from the mandate.
The industry group representing big-box grocery stores in Canada said while some members are having trouble bringing product to Canada from the U.S., others aren’t having any serious issues at all. “We’re hearing from some of our members that they’re not experiencing any major impacts from the mandatory trucking vaccination,” said Michelle Wasylyshen, spokesperson for the Retail Council of Canada.