Surveillance pricing grocery stores are not a future problem. Tests in the United States put 20 people in the same room buying the same product at the same time and found they paid different prices. Not because of a sale. Because of who they were digitally.

What does it feel like to realize the price you see on a shelf might not be the price the person next to you sees? Not because of a coupon or a loyalty card but because of your postal code, your social media presence, the data attached to your phone the moment you walk through the door. The digital price tags already appearing in Canadian stores update instantly and remotely. The step between that and a price that changes based on who is standing in front of it is not a large one.

Food is not a concert ticket. It is not an airline seat. It is a necessity. And Dr. Sylvain Charlebois calls it what it is: discrimination.

Topics: surveillance pricing grocery stores, dynamic pricing food, AI food prices, price discrimination Canada, digital price tags

GUEST: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois | @‌foodprofessor

Originally aired on2026-04-16