GreenSpace Brands Inc., a developer and seller of premium natural food products, has announced that it has signed a share purchase agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Love Child (Brands) Inc. (“Love Child”), an organic infant and children’s food developer and distributor.

“This is a strategic and synergistic acquisition with a shared focus on creating innovative, high quality natural products for children. GreenSpace has been growing at an average of 159 per cent year-on-year since January 2015, and adding a larger business like Love Child, with their rapid growth rate in a complimentary product category, puts us in a great position for continued significant growth,” says Matthew von Teichman, President and CEO of GreenSpace Brands Inc. “We are also excited to welcome Love Child’s talented team, who has done a remarkable job building their diverse product offering and brand. There is a great opportunity to expand the brand within North America utilizing our shared resources and expertise.”

Love Child, which was featured prominently on the CBC show Dragons Den, has had consistently strong revenue growth since it started operations in 2013. Last fiscal year Love Child had net revenue of $5.0 million, an increase of 213 per cent over the previous year.

“Our commitment to create honest, pure and delicious foods that includes nutritionally-rich and natural ingredients have allowed us to differentiate Love Child in the North American market,” says Leah Garrad-Cole, founder of Love Child. “GreenSpace is a perfect home for the Love Child brand with their commitment to continue to bring innovative nourishing products to parents in North America and broadening our development and retail capabilities. John and I are excited to join the GreenSpace team and look forward to our ongoing leadership of the Love Child brand.”

Under the terms of the share purchase agreement, on closing GreenSpace expects to pay the vendors of Love Child $3 million in cash and issue 1,190,476 common shares in GreenSpace, determined by dividing $1.25 million by $1.05 per share, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. The share purchase agreement also contemplates the issuance of warrants on closing that will be exercisable if the Love Child brand achieves certain revenue thresholds. The share purchase agreement further contemplates that if the Love Child brand achieves certain revenue thresholds two years following closing, an earn-out of GreenSpace shares will be awarded.

Love Child has total assets of approximately $2.5 million and total liabilities of approximately $2.1 million, which is inclusive of $1.8 million of debt that will be assumed by GreenSpace as part of the acquisition.

GreenSpace also plans to complete a non-brokered equity financing for common shares in the capital of GreenSpace at a price of $1.05 per common share for a dollar amount to be determined. Net proceeds of the equity financing will be used for the acquisition of Love Child. Completion of the equity financing is subject to customary conditions including TSX Venture Exchange approval.

GreenSpace expects to close these transactions at the end of September or early October.

Most retailers in Toronto are not permitted to operate during the year’s nine public holidays but Longo Brothers Fruit Markets Ltd. is a recent retailer that challenged and won against this municipal bylaw.

As a result, while other Longos locations across the city were closed during the past Labour Day, the Longo Maple Leaf Square location remained open.

Owned and operated by a family, Longos recently challenged the Toronto holiday shopping bylaw in court and prevailed on the grounds that the Maple Leaf Square location also serves prepared food. The city notes that prepared foods is a provision that is only meant to apply to restaurants and fast food outlets.

The only other exception to the city bylaw is Toronto Eaton Centre because it’s a designated tourist attraction and it’s closed only once a year, during Christmas Day.

The city solicitor is scheduled to report on the impact of the recent court ruling on September 30.

According to Empire Cos., following Sobeys’ decision to take control of ordering and inventory at its acquired Safeway locations in Western Canada, the grocer has experienced a decline in margins and profits in its first quarter.

In a statement to analysts, Empire and Sobeys CEO Marc Poulin said, “Although we had identified the various risks associated with integration, including the amount and pace of change required, we underestimated the impact and the time needed for the organization to adapt to those changes. This had a clear and negative impact on our first quarter results.”

According to Poulin, the company had identified that the main issue responsible for the decline in profits is a lack of follow-up training for former Safeway workers. As a result, the grocer has garnered resources in order to elevate performance levels, adding that the situation will be stabilized after “a few quarters for sure.”

Poulin adds that former Safeway workers had difficulties with Sobeys policies concerning over-ordered fresh items, which resulted in increased costs for shrink and issues running promotions.

NBTY, Inc., a global manufacturer, marketer, distributor and retailer of vitamins and nutritional supplements, announced the appointment of Kevin Warren, to the position of President of NBTY International.

Warren will provide strategic leadership in recognizing and optimizing opportunities for further geographic penetration and generating profitable, sustainable growth in both mature and emerging international markets. He will be responsible for the creation of targeted growth strategies for brands such as Solgar®, Nature’s Bounty® and MET-Rx®. Warren will drive the development of new business partnerships and oversee the maintenance of all vendor and affiliate relationships outside the Americas.
“I am delighted to welcome Kevin to NBTY. As the Company continues to grow, we recognize that the breadth and depth of our international business will play a pivotal role in helping to establish NBTY as the unequivocal global leader in wellness products,” says Steve Cahillane, president and CEO of NBTY. “Kevin is a driven and effective leader with extensive global experience in consumer goods. He is uniquely qualified to lead our International business and I am confident that he will take it to new heights.”

Warren is joining the company following a successful career at Coca-Cola, where he held a variety of international leadership positions and delivered significant top and bottom line growth. Most recently he served as Region Director for Russia, Middle East and Africa in the Bottling Investments Group. Prior to that role, he was President and General Manager of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) Canada. Additionally, he held the position of President and General Manager of CCE-United Kingdom. Under Warren’s tenure, this business became the most profitable business unit in Coca-Cola Enterprises globally. Before joining Coca-Cola, Warren worked for The Walt Disney Company in the U.S. and various leisure and travel organizations in the U.K.

Warren will begin his new role effective September 28th and will be based in the U.K. He is a graduate of Brockenhurst College and earned a law degree at Bristol University.

Downtown Pharmacy at 348 Powell St. in Vancouver has been ordered to shut down by The College of Pharmacists of BC following an inspection that unveiled sanitation, structural, and patient health problems.
According to the College, the concerns found on site pose serious public and patient health risk as a result of which, the pharmacy’s license has been immediately suspended pending further investigation.
During inspections by the College, the following concerns were found:
• Mould inside a cupboard containing equipment used to provide patient care and in other locations
• Old and moldy food products, such as an open package of cake mix found in the dispensary
• Fecal matter and rat traps found within dispensary and storage area
• Graffiti on the exterior of the pharmacy
• Dirty and dilapidated interior and exterior walls, fixtures, flooring, ceiling tiles, and furniture
• Stains, cobwebs, dust, and peeling paint in numerous locations
The College will also work with external experts and, where appropriate, relevant local or provincial authorities, to complete air quality and environmental testing and to ensure that the building is structurally sound.
This is the second pharmacy to be suspended by the College as a result of the evidence collected from an unannounced inspection. These inspections are being conducted as part of the College’s action plan on methadone maintenance treatment. This action plan steps up enforcement of standards that protect the public.

Many Canadians are choosing to head south of the border when it comes to buying their groceries. Several of the large U.S. supermarkets located near the border cater to Canadian shoppers that specifically travel there to stock up on lower-priced foods and better product selection.

On the other hand, the value of the Canadian dollar has recently fallen to about 76 cents U.S., affecting the number of people that cross the border from Canada to do their shopping in the States.

This has in turn made some of the American grocers worried because they’ve become so accustomed to the vast traffic coming in from both sides of the border.

In the meantime, according to a spokesperson from Western New York’s two largest supermarkets, Canadian shoppers make up a considerable portion of the clientele at stores near the Canadian border.

Retailers are making their best efforts to continue to attract Canadian shoppers by posting signs like, “Welcome, Canadians!” and proudly displaying the Canadian flag. They are also finding that Canadians are most drawn to great deals on dairy products like milk, butter, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. The average price for a three-liter bag of milk on Canadian soil is about $6.47 while a gallon at Wegmans is $2.39, meaning that a litre of milk in Canada is about $2.15 compared to 60 cents in the U.S. Similarly, a pound of butter retails for $5 north of the border, and $2.54 per pound in the States.

A leader in the Canadian natural products industry, Suro has now officially entered the European and Asian markets. The certified organic brand now has distribution across South Korea, Japan, China and Europe.

According to Suro President & CEO Sylvain Mercier, this has been a two-year process for the company, starting with applying for and receiving all of the necessary certification for the company to sell organic products in these countries.

“It’s a tough market to get into but once you do, I believe it’s a great market for us,” says Mercier. “Just the sheer size of the population makes a huge difference and of course the demand is higher.”

Suro, based in Quebec and owned by Mercier, Jacinthe Desmarais, and Lawrence Tomlinson, has developed a reputation for offering quality products in Canada so it was no surprise when the company was approached to distribute overseas several years ago.

Today, Suro is known for offering a physician-developed line of elderberry-based medicines and is the only brand that’s 100% locally manufactured.

(dermaflage.com)

LeBeau Excel Ltd. has announced that Allyson A. Johnson has recently accepted the new role of Director of Education, Western Canada. Johnson has spent 25 years in the Health & Wellness industry and holds nutritional consulting, iridology, herbology, lifestyle coaching and personal training certifications.

Johnson has held previous educational roles at Morning Sun retail stores, Zand Botanicals and Wellesse USA and will apply this experience to LeBeau Excel’s current brand partners. She will be working with the Western Sales Team of LeBeau Excel to create training opportunities for store staff, consumer education events and generally working to increase the awareness of the company’s more complex products. Johnson starts this new role effective immediately and can be reached at ally@lebeauadvance.com and 403-400-4990.

Tymon Ritco is now the main sales contact of the Prairies Region and can be reached at tymon@lebeauadvance.com.

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