Carmen Fortino has been named Metro’s senior vice-president and leader of its Ontario division, effective Sept. 2. He steps into the role that was vacated by Johanne Choinière in April of this year. Metro CEO Eric La Flèche made the announcement during a conference call.

Fortino is a former Loblaw executive, where he served as executive vice-president of the Ontario region. He has also held executive positions at Seroyal International, Atrium Innovations, and most recently at GNC Holdings Inc. as its executive vice-president of business development.

“Carmen is a seasoned operator with a broad experience in all facets of food retail, and more recently in the health and wellness sector internationally,” says La Flèche. “I look forward to working with Carmen and our Ontario executive team to build on the momentum we’re seeing in the business today.”

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall on August 18 for two brands of peanut and almond butters due to a possible salmonella contamination.

The recall is for nearly 12 almond and peanut butters under the brand names MaraNatha and Trader Joe’s, which may be responsible for four illnesses in the United States, although no illnesses have been reported in Canada.

The almond and peanut butters in question have been sold in Canada, the U.S., the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. The products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased.

According to the CFIA, salmonella-contaminated food may not appear spoiled, yet can still cause illness, especially in young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. Short-term symptoms of salmonella poisoning include fever, headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Salmonella can also cause long-term symptoms such as severe arthritis.

Walmart Canada Corp. plans to use sales to get more business in an effort to fight off its competition. Walmart stores in Canada experienced a 0.2 per cent sales increase at stores that have been open for one year or more, though it posted a “triple-digit” gain in online sales, according to a release. The company’s U.S. stores recorded a 0.6 per cent profit, though its annual earnings outlook was cut due to lower than expected U.S. sales.

“Our enterprise strategy dictates that we move with speed and agility to serve our customers more effectively,” said Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon in a conference call. “We are pushing to save them time and money, both in-store and online.”

Dirk Van den Berghe, Walmart Canada’s new leader since the beginning of August, “produced solid results in a very competitive environment,” according to David Cheesewright, president of Wal-Mart International. Walmart Canada experienced a sales growth of 2.9 per cent due to expanding its supercentres, which include grocery stores. However, despite sales rising by 1.3 per cent during Walmart Canada’s second quarter, shopper traffic decreased by 1.1 per cent, according to the company.

Target plans to continue its Canadian expansion by opening three new stores this fall at an unknown date, bringing this year’s new store total to nine. The retail giant will have a total of 133 stores in Canada by the end of 2014.

Two new locations will open in Ontario, in St. Laurent, Ottawa, and Sheridan Centre, Mississauga, as well as at Polo Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Earlier in 2014, Target opened stores in Toronto, Mississauga and Ottawa, Ont., Edmonton, Alta., Victoria, B.C., and Candiac, Que.

Target estimates that at each Canadian store, it employs approximately 150 workers, which the company calls “team members.”

Manitoba-based Canadian Prairie Garden Purees has utilized a rapid steam infusion process that claims to produces vegetable purees that preserve the colour, flavour and nutrients of the vegetables used. The ultra-high temperature steam injection process ‘flash cooks’ the vegetables and fruits in approximately four to 20 seconds, according to Canadian Prairie Garden CEO Kelly Beaulieu.

“Our steam fusion cooking system is unique. The very high temperature with a very short cook time and the very rapid cool down are the key reasons we have a superior product,” she told Food Navigator-USA.

The purees can be preserved for up to two years and are higher in vitamin C and nutrients than their rivals, as well as taking a shorter amount of time to cook. The company’s customers have expressed their interest in the purees, writing letters of intent in order to purchase the products.

According to a new survey commissioned by Norway-based krill oil company Aker BioMarine, practitioners continue to prescribe omega-3s to patients despite recent negativity surrounding the supplements.

The survey found that omega-3s were the supplements that were most commonly recommended by practitioners, with 35 per cent of the participants stating they’ve always recommended them. 53 per cent said they recommend them frequently. The results showed they most commonly recommend them for heart health, cognitive and mood health, and reducing inflammation, among others. The participants were the most knowledgeable about fish oil as a source of omega-3s.

NutraIngredients-USA Communications and Marketing manager Becky Wright told NutraIngredients that the survey shows that practitioners are not as affected as customers by what they hear from mainstream media. Most practitioners continue to support the health benefits of omega-3s and prefer to get their knowledge from sources like peer-reviewed journals.

The Organic and Natural Health Alliance (ONHA) will hold a series of meetings at the Las Vegas SupplySide West trade show in an effort to define what ‘natural’ means for the natural product industry. The trade organization seeks to define ‘natural’ from the consumers’ point of view and what that means for the marketplace. The meetings to be held at the trade show, which will take place in October.

“The process we are going to use is going to be transparent,” ONHA director Karen Howard told NutraIngredients-USA. Questions of whether the definition will apply to inputs that don’t meet the standard of organic ingredients will be part of the discussion, she said.

“When it comes to food, the organic standard is the core standard. The standard for natural will be different for each of the industries we are going after. We anticipate it will take about 90 ways to define a natural standard for food,” she said.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers has announced the recipients of its annual Life Member Awards.

Steve R. Fox of Nestle Canada will be awarded in the Industry Builder category. Currently Senior Vice-President of Customer Development at Nestle after joining the company in 2003, Fox previously worked at Adam’s Canada and Kraft.

“Steve is recognized by his peers as a leader amongst leaders in the Canadian retail sector. What makes him unique is not that he’s a great supporter of the grocery sector, but that he gives his personal time to help make Canada a better place,” says Tim Barlow, president and CEO of CFIG in a press release.

Ken Schley, Noel Hayward and John Briuolo, the founders of Vancouver Island’s Quality Foods over 30 years ago, will be awarded in the Independent Grocer category. Schley is the president of the 12-store chain, while Hayward and Briuolo are managing partners.

Despite being independent, Quality Foods has used technology as one of its greatest strengths. In 1991, it launched Q-Card, Canada’s first electronic loyalty program. Five years later, it turned to e-commerce, and it has recently developed an app linking customers directly to the loyalty program.

“The Quality Foods story is one of inspiration, perseverance and collaboration between partners,” says Barlow in a press release. “By staying focused on what their customers want and giving back to the communities in which they operate, Quality Foods personifies what makes independent grocers a vital part of the Canadian social fabric.”

The recipients of the Life Member Awards will be presented with their awards at Grocery Innovations Canada, taking place on September 29 and 30 in Toronto.

Metro Inc., the Quebec-based supermarket chain, has reported a third-quarter sales increase of 1.4 per cent and net earnings at $144.4 million, despite the competitive market that includes other grocery giants such as Loblaw, Sobeys, Costco and Walmart. It also lists $1.63 in diluted earnings per share as compared to $1.49 per diluted share last year.

After the grocery chain’s reorganization of its Ontario locations, it listed sales at $3.62 billion, compared to its year-over-year total of $3.57 billion, with same-store sales rising by one per cent over last year.

“We are satisfied with our third-quarter results achieved in an environment that remains challenging,” says CEO Eric La Fleche in a statement.

Metro operates nearly 600 stores across Ontario and Quebec under numerous banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, and over 250 drugstores.

Loblaw’s PC Plus loyalty program will be awarded predictive analysis and decision management software company FICO’s Decision Management Award for Analytic Excellence after being chosen by a group of industry analysts and journalists.

The six-month-old program is already used in over one third of Canadian households and provides members with personalized weekly offers using FICO.

“We were in a unique position to design a next-generation loyalty program that would embrace customer analytics for one-to-one marketing,” says Uwe Stueckmann, senior vice president of marketing for Loblaw, in a press release. “Our analysis showed us that the best customers accounted for more than 60 per cent of revenue, but market data suggested that we were only capturing about 50 per cent of the grocery spend of these customers. We have a large opportunity to grow sales with our best customers.”

The awards are presented to companies that have achieved outstanding business results using FICO as its analytics and decision management tool. Loblaw will be featured in a presentation, among other winners, at FICO World 2014 in November in San Diego.