Walmart Canada Corp. says it’s cutting Weston Foods as a bread supplier, but the retailer says the decision has nothing to do with the Competition Bureau’s investigation into price-fixing. In an email statement, a spokesperson for Walmart says the company is reducing its number of bread suppliers for commercial reasons. The decision comes months after George Weston Ltd. and Loblaw Companies Ltd. admitted their participation in what they said was an industry-wide scheme to co-ordinate the price of bread in Canada. They brought the information to the Competition Bureau in December in exchange for immunity from criminal proceedings. That sparked the watchdog’s ongoing investigation into an alleged cartel composed of the two informants, as well as Walmart, Canada Bread Company Ltd., Sobeys Inc., Metro Inc. and Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.

Source: thestar May 19, 2018 03:11 UTC