Liquidation Marie helps Quebecers save on groceries

Grocery prices have been going up, and it has been hard on so many. Quebec stores like Liquidation Marie offer customers something different.

Shoppers can save money by buying products at a reduced price, as the majority of items have passed or are near their expiration date.

Marieve Breton owns four locations, including one in Saint-Jérôme, north of Montreal.

“Everything costs a lot of money, so we want to give people nice products at a cheap price,” said Marieve Breton, owner of Liquidation Marie.

“Here we try to find items at the lowest price so I can offer people good vegetables, meats, and everything at the lowest cost,” Breton added.

Breton says she gets her products from everywhere. Some companies have dated products, or products that they simply can’t sell.

“Sometimes when the company produces meat pies, on the box, it’s supposed to be 750 grams, but sometimes it’s 700. They cannot sell it, so it’s the same product, but it’s at a cheaper price because it doesn’t have the correct amount of grams on the pie,” said Breton.

Breton says the reaction from her customers is mixed.

“We have two kinds. You have the kind that want to buy, and then you have the other kind, oh my gosh, they don’t even want to touch because they’re expired. But here at Liquidation Marie, we are a hybrid store. We have short-dated items, expired products, and fresh ones. So, we mix everything together, and customers can come to buy only the fresh items, the short-dated ones, or the expired ones,” she explained.

Although customers have a mixed reaction, the real question is: Is the food safe to consume?

“If your immune system is in good condition, there’s no risks. Of course, it depends on who you are and with whom you live with. If you do live with some people whose health is not at 100%, I wouldn’t take the risk, obviously. So that’s something you want to keep in mind as much as possible. But food safety practices in Canada or companies in Canada do follow strict food safety practices. So people should feel comfortable rescuing food. I think the biggest challenge is stigma, I think,” said Sylvain Charlebois, Professor and Director at Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University.

“People don’t see it as a cool thing to buy expiring food. But if we start thinking about food rescuing as a priority to reduce waste, I actually think that the stigma will slowly go away, but we still have a long way to go,” said Charlebois.

“Best before doesn’t mean bad after. There’s no science to these dates. Manufacturers will actually add these dates, obviously, as a precaution to let people know when is the optimal time to actually consume a product. But it doesn’t mean that the product is unsafe once the date—the best before date—is past. So that’s something that people really need to understand. You shouldn’t be expecting the same level of quality or freshness,” added Charlebois.

City News reached out to Quebec’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. They say that “many foods can be safely consumed after the best before date if they show no obvious signs of spoilage. This applies to yogurts, dry foods, marinades, and even eggs.”

“If the product is unopened, chances are that product is still safe to eat. Canada has a very, very strong food safety culture, so people don’t necessarily think about these things, but it’s slowly changing, especially in light of the fact that food prices have actually gone up significantly and people are looking for different ways to save as much as possible. So, I’m not entirely surprised that there’s not only a store offering products like this, but there’s actually a chain being developed in regard to this food-rescuing market. That’s what we call it—people rescuing food instead of just sending food to landfill,” said Charlebois.

As for Breton, she has plans to expand her stores to other locations. She hopes that her stores can not only offer customers good deals, but also help to stop food waste.

“A lot of companies just throw away a lot of food, so we want to stop that and offer it at the lowest price in my stores,” said Breton.

“Now people want to save money, and it’s the best place to come because they can afford a lot of food with a basket full of stuff,” added Breton.