Canadians get creative as rising food costs continue

As Canada’s food costs continue to rise with no end in sight and rumours of an impending recession, consumers are looking at ways to best stretch their dollars. In the last 12 months, three out of four Canadians have changed the way they buy food to try and offset the increased costs.   The recently […]

Preventing obesity starts in the grocery aisle with food packaging

By Eugene Y. Chan and Liangyan Wang In 2018, Statistics Canada reported that nearly one in three Canadians were obese. Similar figures have been reported in Australia, but more concerning is the United States, where over 40 percent of the population is obese. Obesity is not the only diet-related illness to be concerned about — diabetes […]

Canada’s annual food inflation rate at 8.8% in June

Canada’s inflation rate, which has been making unwanted headlines for months, has hit another high-water mark. In June 2022, the annual rate of inflation was 8.1 per cent compared to June 2021, its largest yearly change since January 1983. Food inflation continues to outpace that figure. That figure is up 0.4 per cent from the […]

The delicate balance between grocery store profit & food security

By Janet Music & Sylvain Charlebois Food prices in Canada continue to soar in the face of labour shortages, the rising cost of goods and supply chain disruptions. Statistics Canada recently reported that the food inflation rate in the country has reached 7.4 per cent and that it will most likely rise again in the […]

Loblaws launches its new grocerant concept Globōl

In foodservice, innovation never stops. Loblaws has proven that yet again by launching a new next-generation quick-service “grocerant” concept. Globōl will serve signature bowls from around the world initially from a pilot location in the Loblaws location within Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. A release states the concept, dubbed a “grocerant” as it is considered a […]

SkipTheDishes rolls out Skip Express Lane across Canada

SkipTheDishes, Canada’s largest food delivery network, has announced the nationwide expansion of its Skip Express Lane grocery and household item delivery service. The rollout of Skip Express Lane across Canada will see the launch of 38 new fulfillment centres by mid-2022 from coast to coast, delivering local favourites to Canadians in 25 minutes or less. […]

DoorDash introduces DashMart grocery & convenience store

DoorDash is launching a new DashMart concept that offers its partners and customers a far wider range of items delivered to their doors, as well as giving restaurants and merchants the chance to sell retail products and reach more customers in new ways. DashMart is a virtual store that delivers everyday essentials, groceries, and local […]

Sobeys opens North America’s first grocery Flexstore

A Sobeys in Orangeville, Ont. is the first grocery store in North America to implement a Flexstore concept. Flexstore is a system by European design and shopfitting firm Interstore | Schweitzer that leans on mobile fixtures that can easily be rearranged, allowing grocers to expand, reduce, or otherwise adjust various departments as needed. The units, which […]

Testing high-touch surfaces in grocery stores for COVID-19

By Maleeka Singh, Lawrence Goodridge, Maria G. Corradini, Robert Hanner, and Steven Newmaster As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, and the virus continues to circulate, the transmission risks of everyday interactions may become an ongoing concern. A recent study at the University of Guelph looked at the risk of COVID-19 exposure from high-touch surfaces within […]

Canadian food prices rising amid higher production costs & climate change

Canadian grocery and food prices are slowly but surely rising in recent times, and one expert cites not just the pandemic but rising production costs and the toll of climate change as reasons why. “For the longest time, the last 12 months or so, we were able to import our way out of food inflation […]