Shoppers Drug Mart: Food and Snacks VS Candy and Snacks - what items qualify???

[WINNIPEGZELDA]

are there any specific items that overlap both lists?
i have a 3k when you spend 10$ on food and snack and 3k when you spend 10$ on candy and snacks.
so would 10$ worth of cookies do the trick?

Yes, that would do the trick for 1 of the 3k offers.
Doubt it if a $10 purchase (with both offers loaded) would give you 2 x 3k, if that's what you are asking.

If you try it, please report back how it worked. Thanks

If someone else has tried this and it worked, please jump in.

[apple pie]

I have an offer 3000 wus $10 on candy and snacks. Bought 2 Quaker chocholate granola bars $1.99ea, 1 bag of pc unsalted roasted almonds 300g for$6.99 and I didn't get anything, so I returned them, the cashier told me the almonds not qualified. Is that true or what happened.even the code did'nt show up

[maple7]

I have an offer 3000 wus $10 on candy and snacks. Bought 2 Quaker chocholate granola bars $1.99ea, 1 bag of pc unsalted roasted almonds 300g for$6.99 and I didn't get anything, so I returned them, the cashier told me the almonds not qualified. Is that true or what happened.even the code did'nt show up

Were they in the baking section or with the trail mix items?

[BCcheapMom]

Nuts are under food - snacks are really items that are pre-packaged like a snack like popcorn, granola bars, chips (think, is this total crap that's not really healthy and you're on the right track) and not necessarily items that people actually 'snack' on

[thor9]

I have an offer 3000 wus $10 on candy and snacks. Bought 2 Quaker chocholate granola bars $1.99ea, 1 bag of pc unsalted roasted almonds 300g for$6.99 and I didn't get anything, so I returned them, the cashier told me the almonds not qualified. Is that true or what happened.even the code did'nt show up

My coupon said points will be awarded in 5 days so you may have received the "1" on your receipt too as opposed to seeing the points instantaneously. You have to read the fine print as each coupon differs sometimes.

[maple7]

I bought the jumbo shelled peanuts yesterday (has a picture of Toronto Blue Jays logo on it). Sale price $1.29 (regularly $1.99), bought 8 for the 3k wus $10 on candy and snacks. I'll update if it goes through but got the '1' transaction point.

[Silk]

Apple pie - I did a candy and snacks promo a couple of weeks ago and bought nuts and got my points. I bought pistachios @ 7.99/bag. I called Optimum in advance and asked about several things on my shop list. She did not hesitate to say nuts would count. I asked her to record it in my file that my pistachios would count in case there was a problem (there wasn't - points awarded automatically). Having said that, after talking to another Optimum rep, I realized she was making an assumption - they do not have a list/database there as to what would qualify as food vs snack (or candy, but that category is pretty obvious).

I don't know if this is why the almonds did not qualify in the system but I wonder if it has anything to do with the almonds being unsalted. I don’t know about other provinces, but here in Quebec, unsalted nuts are not taxed.

Quebec has a joint brochure with Canada Revenue Agency about food and beverages and taxes (designed for businesses in the food sector). There’s a section on Snacks and they include examples. One of the examples is “salted seeds”:

• salted seeds (for example, peanuts and sunflower seeds when supplied salted)

I just now Googled ‘seeds vs nuts’ and learned that pistachios, almonds, and cashews - as well as other things we typically call nuts - are actually seeds!

But why nuts/seeds are not considered a snack just because they are unsalted doesn’t make sense to me - who makes up these rules?!

They do give these as “examples of zero-rated snack foods”

• unpopped popcorn kernels, salted or unsalted
• any products sold primarily as breakfast cereals

Fyi, zero-rated is a technical term for businesses related to tax filing; for customers it just means non-taxable.

Btw, a publication like this is probably available for every province. Just Google the name of your provincial tax agency + snacks GST HST (In Quebec it’s gst/qst). I was able to get a PDF of it.

I was going to post the info on snacks from the brochure but it doesn’t cut and paste cleanly so I would have to clean up the formatting. If people are interested, I’ll do that when I have a chance. Let me know by leaving a post

But if you can get hold of the publication, it’s good to have for reference, or just to know your rights. I learned about it last year when I believed a store had taxed an item incorrectly. The case got referred to the store chain’s head office where CS was cocky, insisting stores that didn’t charge tax on the identical item were wrong but they were right (I had purchased it at 2 other stores without being taxed). They tried to use this publication to prove they were right but I was able to use it to put doubt on what they were saying. They agreed to investigate and in the end they admitted I was right - there was a mistake in their system.

Now that I remember this brochure, I will have to go through it when I have more time - maybe it will answer other questions re: food, snacks, and candy (there is also a section called Confections).

Silk

I have an offer 3000 wus $10 on candy and snacks. Bought 2 Quaker chocholate granola bars $1.99ea, 1 bag of pc unsalted roasted almonds 300g for$6.99 and I didn't get anything, so I returned them, the cashier told me the almonds not qualified. Is that true or what happened.even the code did'nt show up

Nuts are under food - snacks are really items that are pre-packaged like a snack like popcorn, granola bars, chips (think, is this total crap that's not really healthy and you're on the right track) and not necessarily items that people actually 'snack' on

I did buy nuts and it qualified as a snack. See my answer above. It seems you may be half right

[jennrav]

I did a 6000 wus $20 on snacks a cpl weeks ago and I bought mostly trail mix and I received my points

[apple pie]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I know my points to awarded in 5 bd but when the cashier was scanning I was looking at the screen to see any code was applied I saw nothing and when it came time to pay I asked the cashier if the code was applied she told me there was no code, so your items are not qualified because the nuts not candy/snack. So I didn't pay and ask her to return everything
I'm not sure if I paid I could have got the points and saw the code and the"1" or not. I'm I'm ontario and there is no tax on unsalted nuts

[maple7]

Thank you @Silk. I checked out the Canada Revenue Agency publication, looks like for tax purposes, unsalted nuts are not considered a snack. If I'm understanding correctly, it's because it is assumed it can be used as an ingredient in making something else ie. baking.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/4-3/4-3-e.html

I also thought it was interesting that unpopped popcorn, even the microwave ones, are not considered a snack as they are not in their final form. I've never tried microwave popcorn with the candy and snack coupon, it would be interesting to know if it works.

[maple7]

duplicate.

[Luckymih]

Does anyone know if Ensure qualifies as food or snack?

[maple7]

Confirming shelled peanuts on the candy/snack list. Points were awarded today.

[Super Mel]

Seems like common sense, but my Helluva Good Dip counts as Candy & Snacks as well as Food. Noticed its not on the list.

[Silk]

Thank you @Silk. I checked out the Canada Revenue Agency publication, looks like for tax purposes, unsalted nuts are not considered a snack. If I'm understanding correctly, it's because it is assumed it can be used as an ingredient in making something else ie. baking.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gm/4-3/4-3-e.html

I also thought it was interesting that unpopped popcorn, even the microwave ones, are not considered a snack as they are not in their final form. I've never tried microwave popcorn with the candy and snack coupon, it would be interesting to know if it works.

You're welcome, maple7. And thanks for the link. That document is much more detailed than the brochure I was referring to. I think the one I have gives an overview and summarizes the main points.

From what I read and posted in my previous post #82, unpopped popcorn *is* considered a snack

Here it is again. This is the exact wording from the section on Snack Foods:

Examples of zero-rated snack foods
• unpopped popcorn kernels, salted or unsalted
• any products sold primarily as breakfast cereals

On the CRA site under snacks, it says:

Unpopped popcorn kernels
59. Unpopped popcorn kernels, including microwave popcorn kernels, are zero-rated when salted or otherwise, since the kernels are not considered to be popcorn prior to popping.

Zero-rated only means it is not taxed. I do think all popcorn would be considered snacks, but in it's prepared form (i.e. popped) it would be taxable. That's my understanding - but everyone needs to do their own research and make their own decisions

Re: unsalted nuts - I still don't get why they wouldn't be considered a snack food. Apparently a mixture of 2 or more nuts, salted or unsalted, would be considered a snack food As far as it being considered an ingredient, under confections (candy) they list baker's chocolate - which would likely also be seen as an ingredient, so it seems that would not be consistent.

And you know what... for all we know, it could all just be due to a computer glitch or programming error at SDM

Silk