Grocery Wars

The global food industry is currently navigating unprecedented challenges. Since the pandemic, the food inflationary environment has significantly impacted food brands, particularly in terms of customer brand loyalty and the notable shift towards more affordable or private label alternatives. In the United States, 71.7% of consumers view   a brand less favorably following a price increase, […]

Obesity is a global emergency. Worldwide, adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, and adolescent obesity has quadrupled. Two alarming stats to consider: In 2022, 2.5B adults (18 and over) were overweight. Of these, 890M were living with obesity. Over 390M children and adolescents aged 5-19 years were overweight in 2022, including 160M who […]

Innovation is critical to any brand’s success. This especially holds true in the grocery sector, where food trends evolve relatively quickly, with some lasting longer than others. Today, innovation is more essential than ever in the Canadian grocery sector: For the 52-week period ending December’2024, Canada’s CPG sector achieved a mere 1% growth in tonnage.[1] […]

Technology has profoundly impacted many aspects of our lives, including how we communicate, work, learn, and interact socially. It has also altered how we shop for food, and deliver food, shifting from traditional in-store experiences to online platforms. The introduction of the cellphone has had the biggest impact as many consumers use them to look […]

The late Mr. Dave Nichols who revolutionized branding launched Canadian retailers’ first private-label brand in the late 1980’s. Setting out to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie and to outdo Christie’s then-best-selling Chips Ahoy, he personally approved the President’s Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie. Having set the gold standard for the private-label brand, some 25 […]

Living a healthier lifestyle has become a theme for most consumers. January 2024, McKinsey and Company reported that 82% of consumers now consider wellness a top or important priority in their lives. The global wellness market was forecasted to hit $1.8T this past year. The US wellness market was valued at $480B in 2024, growing […]

The grocery sector has evolved, and will continue to evolve. I grew up in a small town: Streetsville, Ontario, 1 hour west of Toronto. When my parents went grocery shopping, they had 2 options, Dominion, and a franchisee owned IGA. Those two banners have subsequently been purchased by Metro and Sobeys respectively. Today, I have […]

The pandemic has brought turbulent times to the global grocery industry. Not one country has been exempt from the food inflationary wars. This is despite what was reported by the Canadian media and MPs who have made it sound as if food inflation has been a “Made in Canada” problem only. The average $100 basket […]

Canada’s grocery sector has been in a state of flux since the beginning of the pandemic, and the inflationary wars that have emerged. During this period the media have referenced the term “Greed Flation” without acknowledging that since 2015, though the cost of food has increased 32.3%, the price per litre of gasoline has increased […]