Articles

By Sue Nicholls I had a planned topic for this article that was going to focus on something completely different but changed it last week because of a recent experience I had with a retail client that is very relevant for sharing.  Let’s say you’re looking at your category or …

The Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA), the Canadian Beverage Association (CBA), Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) and Restaurants Canada recently published the Code for the Responsible Advertising of Food and Beverage Products to Children (the “Code”). The Code, and its accompanying Guide for the Responsible Advertising of Food and Beverage …

Scott Langdoc, Head of Worldwide Strategy and Thought Leadership for Grocery Chain, Drug, and Convenience/Fuel Retailing, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Joanne Joliet, Head of Worldwide Fashion & Apparel at AWS As the grocery industry tackles dramatic shifts in shopper behavior, broad changes in product assortments, and huge growth in …

The pandemic required Canadians to adopt new ways of shopping across all types of retail, and when it came to grocery, we saw no exception. During the early days of the pandemic with grocery store queues, product shortages, and safety concerns, one in four Canadians (25%) pivoted to online grocery …

By Sue Nicholls Over the past 18 months we have experienced unprecedented changes in consumer and shopper behaviour – their work and home life, their needs and their shopping behaviors have all shifted. A new shopper is emerging and at this point we are uncertain which behaviors have changed permanently …

British foods abound By Melanie Franner The market size of the specialty food stores industry in Canada is expected to increase 5.7 per cent to reach $3.2 billion in 2021, according to an August 2020 IBISWorld report. This follows a 0.4 per cent decline per year on average between 2016 …

The New Normal in Alberta’s Food Industry By Deb Draper In December 2020, there were 1,627 grocery stores in Alberta. Combined with beverage stores the food retail sector took 20 per cent of total retail sales, showing an increase of five percent in the last quarter of the year. During …

Back to school merchandising and products have changed – for the better By Robin Brunet Traditionally, the back to school season has been a merchandising bonanza for grocers, with several weeks prior to the September date spent heavily promoting anything that can be crammed into a lunchbox. But the dynamics …

Consumers are Back in the Kitchen By Karen Barr With the onset of COVID-19, Canadians stockpiled their pantries with baking ingredients. Consumers were buying in bulk to avoid frequent shopping trips. Lockdowns forced the country to stay home, which allowed for more time in the kitchen. According to the FCC …

What consumers want from convenient foods is changing, and suppliers and manufacturers have some great options to meet those expectations. By Carolyn Camilleri The trend towards convenient foods is by no means new, but it is evolving in new and interesting ways — so much so that “convenience” warrants a …