Nestlé Canada’s decision to remove popular varieties of frozen pizza and meals from Canadian shelves in the next six months will leave the country’s frozen food aisles “in trouble” and with less competition, meaning higher prices for consumers, says Sylvain Charlebois, also known as “The Food Professor.”

“The freezer aisle is very busy these days, as people seek refuge from food inflation. Nestlé’s departure from Canada will eliminate many options. The void will be significant,” Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab and a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, told The Epoch Times.

Nestlé said in a Feb. 1 news release that the product lines affected include Delissio, Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine, and Life Cuisine.

The move to remove its frozen food line from shelves is a strategic one. The company said it will focus on long-term business growth and “allow for reinvestment in portfolio lines.”

“Nestlé occupies at least four of five doors of the freezer aisle in the typical grocery store,” noted Charlebois. While Canadians could be “better off in a couple of years,” Charlebois predicts the next six months will be “critical.”

The food professor does not anticipate empty shelves, just higher prices. He said grocers will fill the freezers in some way, but taking a competitor out of the market will “definitely not push prices lower.”

He predicted that Canada’s four main giant grocery retailers—Sobeys (which includes Safeway and FreshCo), Loblaws (which includes Extra Foods, No Frills, Dominion, and others), Walmart, and Metro (which has stores in Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick)—will possibly “try to capitalize on in-store brands,” meaning ramping up production on their own in-house versions of popular name brand products.

Charlebois also suggested that Nestle may be doing a “stop-sell.”

“Nestle doesn’t manufacture in Canada. So it is not like they are closing down. They could easily come back if they wanted, or license distributors to sell their products in Canada,” said Charlebois.

He noted that Nestle may find that the costs to operate in Canada are too high and “they’re just walking away as a result,” waiting for better market conditions.

He said the announcement that these products will disappear in six months “doesn’t mean that they’re not going to come back. Right now, the dominance of just a few grocers in the country makes it hard for CPG [consumer packaged goods] companies to survive and invest in Canada,” added Charlebois.

Nestlé’s indicated its new focus will include candy, coffee and beverages, ice cream, infant foods (formula) and supplements, health science products, pet food, foodservice, and premium waters.

Nestlé does not have a factory in Canada that produces its TV dinners and frozen pizza products, and said it would work with retail partners to help with the exit of the products that will no longer be available.

On Feb. 6, Nestlé chief executive officer March Schneider told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German newspaper, that the company would raise food prices in 2023 to offset higher manufacturing costs.

Nestlé, which is the largest food manufacturing company in the world, reported organic sales growth in the first nine months of 2022 of 8.5 percent.

The company, which did not respond to two inquiries from The Epoch Times, reported that its total sales increased 3.3 percent to 87.1 billion.

On April 1, 2022, Nestlé bought a majority stake in Orgain, a plant-based nutrition company, with the option to fully acquire Orgain in 2024.

Loblaws and Sobeys did not return requests for comment on how the grocers would replace Nestlé products that are pulled from shelves.

Metro spokesperson Stephanie Bonk said she could not comment. “This news is recent and we don’t have all the details,” she said.