Ontario residents are once again raging over obscene grocery prices this week, especially at stores like Loblaws, whose profits have soared while costs to the consumer surge.

It is not simply the ridiculous price of a staple item that has set people off this week, but the perceived disparity between the same product on shelves here at home versus in the far reaches of the American South — a product that actually originates from Ontario, no less.

A viral video shared to X from TikTok on Wednesday shows a woman in Mississippi wondering how the large bag of carrots she was chomping on could cost her only $0.86 when it was shipped all the way from Ontario.

Meanwhile, a fellow TikToker claimed that the same bag — which hails from the Hillside Gardens farm in Bradford, Ontario — costs around $3 at their local supermarket here at home.

"It doesn't make sense that that bag of carrots was 86 cents because that bag of carrots was grown and packaged here in Ontario. And when you buy that same bag of carrots in Southwestern Ontario, it will cost you $3," he said in a stitch with the original clip, targeting grocery tycoon Galen Weston.

"Which means that either in Mississippi, they are selling that bag of carrots at a loss, or grocery stores are taking advantage of our citizens and they are price-gouging us," he continued.

"It doesn't make any sense that it would cost more to transport that within our own province than it would to get to Mississippi."

It’s not the farmers or the minuscule amount of carbon tax to grow and transport food causing high grocery prices- it’s the Canadian retailers fueling inflation

— Nicol R (@NicolleRuby2) November 30, 2023

While a few have brought up things like the USD-CAD dollar conversion, Canada's carbon tax and the much higher wages grocers in Ontario pay in response, others are calling out greedflation, just as so many have been for months now as food prices outpace headline inflation.

Some on TikTok joked that this was a case of "Galen Weston math," while some pointed out that the comments on the original TikTok about the $0.89 cent produce was bombarded with comments from Canadians nationwide about how much more they are paying for the same goods right now.

"The government needs to step in to investigate the price of groceries. Stating how much they should be charging ethically," one person suggested in a comment that garnered 147 likes.

Sure. Part of it. I'm not saying there isn't reason for variance, but when you see these carrots going on sale for $1.50, you gotta wonder who's making the profit on that mark up, and it's not farmers.

— Frank Domenic (@TheFrankDomenic) November 30, 2023

This specific brand of carrots unfortunately does not appear on the Loblaws website at the time of publication, but a comparable a 3 lb bag of Farmer's Market carrots is listed for $3.99, and a 2 lb bag of house brand organic carrots have the same price.

A 464 g bunch of rainbow carrots are likewise $3.99 at the supermarket and a 454 g package of local carrots, $3.49, while a bulk bunch of carrots is $3.49 (a dollar more for organic). Bulk carrots with no bag or brand associated are priced at $2.49 per lb., the same as at Metro, which generally had similar prices for the veggie. 

One local distributor does have plain Hillside Gardens carrots listed online for $2.85 per 2-pound bag, but no major grocers seem had the product online for a price comparison.

Clearly, the topic is one that continues to resonate with Canadians who are shocked at their local grocery store checkout near-daily, with the video racking up nearly 80k views in just 17 hours on TikTok, and another 27.5k on X, along with a ton of discussion.

Hillside Gardens Ltd. has since confirmed to blogTO that the $0.86 carrots in the initial video were from a smaller 1 lb bag, and possibly purchased at a reduced price during a U.S. Thanksgiving sale. They assert that the comparison made by the TikToker is unfair as a result.