Two Ottawa bakeries are asking why they've been shut out of Loblaw Superstores after supplying the company with everything from rye bread to pitas for years.
Rideau and Hanna's bakeries were told last week to immediately stop shipping their products, leaving the businesses to question Loblaws' publicized "buy local" push.
Louis Kardish, the president of Rideau Bakery, asked for an explanation but found no response, beyond a jargon-filled e-mail, after supplying three Superstores for 15 years.
"There seems to be a little disconnect when you see Galen Weston in ads saying they want to bring in local produce, and then at the corporate level, local producers are being cut out of the stores," Kardish told CTV Ottawa.
Hanna's Bakery, which has supplied Loblaws with fresh pita since the early 1970s, will likely eliminate some jobs as a result, said Charbel Hanna.
"I don't know what kind of message they're trying to get across," he said Monday.
Both bakeries now worry the policy could extend to all Loblaws stores - their bread and butter.
In response, Loblaws told CTV Ottawa in an e-mail that it adds and removes vendors all the time, but because of the competitive nature of the business, it couldn't comment on its strategies.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Joanne Schnurr
