Save-On-Foods opened the doors to three new stores in Winnipeg last Saturday, marking the Western Canadian grocery chain’s entrance into the city.

The Northgate location, which is 60,000 square feet, was tailor-made for the people of Winnipeg. The store includes a full traditional grocery featuring more than 6,000 products from around the world, along with the best selection of seafood in the city. The store also features a Starbucks, a frozen yogurt machine, and a wide selection of hot meals.

The Northgate location, the St. James store and the Bridgwater retailer all include a fresh butcher section, a pasta maker, a tortilla maker, and a wide selection of seafood.

“I know I speak for our entire team when I say I am thrilled with what Save-On-Foods has to offer the fantastic people of Winnipeg,” says president Darrell Jones. “Since we announced our expansion to Winnipeg last year, we’ve been working hard to tailor these three stores to their unique communities based on what our neighbours have told us they want, and we’re confident these stores will wow our new customers.”

The Canadian Trade Association (COTA) and Export Development Canada (EDC) will be hosting a joint webinar about international exports and the organic sector.

Speakers will include Tia Loftsgard, executive director at COTA, and Peter G. Hall, vice-president and chief economist at EDC. The webinar, held on December 8^th, 2016 will discuss export services, as well as some of the trends, opportunities and challenges facing the industry. Invitation to the webinar will be circulated shortly, for more information contact Marie-Eve Levert at mlevert@ota.com.

McKesson Canada has announced the appointment of Paula Keays as president, effective immediately. In her new role, Keays will lead 4,000 employees and be responsible for McKesson’s distribution solutions offerings in Canada, including pharmaceutical distribution, pharmacy technology, specialty pharmacy and infusion, procurement, and independent retail banner solutions.

Keays, who will report to Paul C. Julian, executive vice president and group president, will be responsible for driving sales, marketing and operations for the business.

“I have worked alongside Paula for over 15 years, I’ve been impressed by her vision, drive, and commitment to operational excellence,” said Julian.  “Our customers, business partners and employees will be well served by her leadership style, deep understanding of health care and passion for customer service.”

Prior to this appointment, Keays served as McKesson Canada’s senior vice president, Pharmaceutical Distribution and Operations. In this position, she led one of McKesson Canada’s largest portfolios and was responsible for sales, marketing, and operations. Under Keays’ leadership, McKesson Canada successfully advanced its network optimization, which has helped deliver significant operational efficiencies and improvements to the overall business. She also drove the design and introduction of important sales and operations team initiatives which has enhanced customer service, strengthened business partnership and created shared success for customers across Canada.

Since joining McKesson in 2000, Keays has held increasingly senior positions, including vice president and corporate controller, vice president and chief financial officer, and senior vice president, chief financial officer and Six Sigma.

“I am honoured to be taking on my new role as president of McKesson Canada,” said Keays.  “Canada’s health care environment is becoming increasingly complex. Together with our people and our partners I’m looking forward to leading through an important moment in our history as we focus on our customers to deliver better value and patient care for Canadians from coast-to-coast.”

Until a new senior vice president, Pharmaceutical distribution and Operations is appointed, Keays will continue to oversee the operations of the Pharmaceutical distribution and Operations portfolio in addition to her responsibilities as president.

McKesson Canada partners with insurers, hospitals, physicians’ offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies and others across the spectrum of care to build healthier organizations that deliver better care to patients in every setting.

Green Biologics, an industrial and biotech maker, will now sell its ingredients under two names. This action comes as the company hopes to market its products as sustainable alternatives to those made using fossil fuel.

The company will now sell its ingredients name under BioPure, which the company feels “encapsulates both the purity and sustainability of its biobased chemistry.” The company has also trademarked GreenInside, allowing for co-branding with its business partners.

With this, the company is pursuing opportunities in cosmetics, food ingredients, plasticizers, monomers and specialty solvents. Additionally, it is currently focused on selling n-butanol and acetone.

Walmart’s American stores are looking at blockchain technology to tackle food safety challenges. The new equipment is being used to track food supply from origin to sale.

According to a Bloomberg article, the blockchain trial could change how Wal-Mart Stores, monitors food, allowing for improvements in food safety.

The blockchain is a distributed ledger where growers, distributors and retailers can record transactions securely. The database also allows for detailed analysis of inventories and interactions along the supply chain.

It is often a struggle to identify and remove food that’s been recalled, meaning that it can take days to identify the product, shipment and vendor. The blockchain analysis will allow Walmart to obtain crucial data from a single receipt, including suppliers, details the food’s origin, and who inspected it.

“With blockchain, you can do strategic removals, and let consumers and companies have confidence,” says Frank Yiannas, vice-president of food safety Walmart. “We believe that enhanced traceability is good for other aspects of the food systems. We hope you could capture other important attributes that would inform decisions around food flows, and even get more efficient at it.”

If the tests are successful, Walmart will expand the technology to other products and locations.

Despite competition in the industry, both Loblaw Companies Limited and Metro Inc. have reported strong numbers for their most recent fiscal quarters.

The chains each performed well in terms of revenue, same-store sales and diluted earnings per share, as well as on the key tonnage metric, which excludes price changes.

Loblaw’s revenue rose 1.4 per cent in its third quarter, with profits beating analysts’ estimates following internal cost cutting. Loblaw’s CEO Galen G. Weston notes that “customers responded well to lowered prices” and that the company “continue(s) to drive the top line.” Moreover, Weston notes that while competition was “intense” this quarter, the company still saw an improvement in store traffic and basket size.

Metro Inc. also had a successful quarter, with its 4Q sales up 3.4 per cent to $2928.9 million. The company’s net earnings were up 10.1 per cent to $145.0 million, and same-store sales were up 2.8 per cent.

Grocer ALDI has announced that as of January 1, it will be removing eight pesticides from all products in its U.S. stores. The supermarket, which has been known for its low prices, will now focus on organic food in a bid that is sure to give Whole Foods a run for its money.

The pesticides being removed are thiamethoxam, chlorpyrifos, clothianidin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, fipronil, imidacloprid, and sulfoxaflor.

The grocer will also remove some artificial ingredients from its products and add more gluten-free items to its roster. It has also removed certified synthetic colours, partially hydrogenated oils, and MSG from its private-label products.

Additionally, ALDI has expanded its sales of fresh and organic meat and produce, including the “Never Any!” brand of meats that contain no added antibiotics, hormones, animal by-products or other additives. The chain will also grow the SimplyNature line, which is free of more than 125 artificial ingredients, and its gluten-free “liveGfree” brand. The company has also begun to offer more high-end products, including artisan cheeses, smoked salmon, quinoa, and coconut oil.

With this growth, ALDI is certainly competition for Whole Foods. With low prices, a wide selection, and a vast variety of locations across the U.S., ALDI may be set up for a takeover of the organic grocery sector.

There are currently 1,500 ALDI stores in the U.S and they plan to add 500 more by 2018. Currently, there are no ALDI stores in Canada, but industry experts suggest that this could be a future move for the Germany-based retailer.

According to Scottish media outlet The Drum, a survey has revealed that consumers in the United Kingdom are more inclined to shop online using their mobile devices than their U.S. counterparts.

The data, taken from almost 4,000 online businesses, also determined that mobile has replaced desktop for online shopping in the UK. There, it accounts for 58.7 per cent of purchases, while 54 per cent of U.S. shoppers still use desktop.

The Drum suggests that this points to mobile overtaking desktop, a trend that has long been forecasted.

This data is a wake-up call to retailers who don’t have strong mobile platforms. With consumers increasingly turning to mobile, companies must increase the strength of this medium in order to keep up.
As we head towards Black Friday and the holiday season, consider taking a look at your mobile e-commerce capabilities. You may find that this turns over into increased sales with more tech-savvy consumers.

Global Gardens Group, the makers of Veggemo, have partnered with iLevel Management Inc. to promote, distribute and increase sales of the award-winning product. iLevel will act as Global Gardens’s sales broker to natural health stores in Eastern Canada.

“We are excited to partner with iLevel Management,” says Wade Bayne, vice-president of Marketing at Gardens Group. “iLevel is a full service sales and marketing agency providing the focused representation we desire in the Natural Health channel. Their brand portfolio continues to expand and this is a testament to their ability to add value to the retail customers. iLevel provides a tremendous platform for the further progression of the Veggemo brand.”

The Veggemo product line is the first and only non-dairy beverage to originate from vegetables and is available in 3 flavours: Original, Unsweetened and Vanilla.

(https://mgtrailer.com)

Hain Celestial, the food and beverage giant, has filed suit in federal court against St. Louis’s Blueprint Coffee for trademark infringement.

Hain owns a company by the name of BluePrint Organic, a brand whose product line is comprised of cold-pressed juice and various cleanses. Hain notes that the name of Blueprint Coffee creates “a likelihood of confusion” with its BluePrint brand.

According to The Riverfront Times in St. Louis, Mike Marquard, a partner in Blueprint Coffee, notes that his company has filed for a U.S. trademark. At this time, they are in a period where potential rivals can object to the finalization of the trademark.

Marquard said he is not “caught off guard” by the suit, as the two companies have been negotiating to find a “peaceful resolution.”

Blueprint Coffee operates out of St Louis, and sells coffee products across the U.S. Founded in 2013, the company seeks to create mutually beneficial relationships between its producers, vendors, wholesale partners, and customers.