File photo of a Loblaw-owned Real Canadian Superstore location in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Loblaw beats estimates for quarterly revenue

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Canadian retailer Loblaw Cos. beat market estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, as demand for groceries and other essential items stayed strong. The pandemic-led trend of cooking at home has sustained even as COVID curbs have eased, continuing to help sales at grocery stores that benefited during last year’s lockdowns. Companies such as […] Read more

Greenleaf Foods, a subsidiary of meat processor Maple Leaf Foods, last month began providing its plant-based Lightlife Chick’n Tenders to convenience chain 7-Eleven in Canada. (Dave Bedard photo)

ADM releases alternative protein outlook for 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Major U.S. agribusiness ADM released a report Tuesday identifying the seven biggest trends in the alternative protein market, ranging from creating new protein sources from fungi to making plant-based meat substitutes more affordable and palatable to the general public. The seven trends in the report were: introduction of novel protein sources, using microbial […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan)

Canary seed prices likely to be good in 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Prices for canary seed spiked to all-time new highs and then pulled well back as the Prairie winter set in, according to David Nobbs of Purely Canada Foods in Saskatoon. Nobbs explained prices were on a rollercoaster in 2021, starting out at around 30 cents per pound only to climb through the 30s […] Read more

(Video screengrab from CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Vaccine mandate to lead to inflation, empty shelves, trucking executives say

Parallel mandate for U.S. entry starts Saturday

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian consumers should soon see higher prices and some empty shelves in supermarkets and other retail outlets because of disruptions stemming from a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, top trucking executives warned this week. The mandate, imposed by Ottawa to help curb the spread of the virus, has cost six […] Read more


Lucy Waverman has an endless appreciation for the Toronto food scene.

Food writer’s focus on local gets consumer attention

Why do Canadians love to read what Globe & Mail food editor Lucy Waverman thinks about their food and who grows it? Because her love for food is so irresistible

Reading Time: 4 minutes As we talk, Lucy Waverman is listing ingredients she always keeps in her kitchen. “Olive oil and chilies — I always like to have dried chilies or some fresh birdseye or banana peppers — just a pinch of something a little spicy brings out flavour,” she says. Then there’s salmon. Butter. Salt. “Salt is one […] Read more

U.S. grain firm Scoular is expanding its reach in the flax market with a new processing plant just outside Regina. (Scoular.com)

Scoular fires up flax processing near Regina

Plant to process flax for food- and feed-grade markets

Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. grain handler Scoular’s Canadian arm has opened a new flax processing operation at its site just southeast of Regina, into what it describes as a record-strong flax market. Scoular Canada on Wednesday announced the opening of its “high-speed” flax line at Richardson, Sask., where it already processes and cleans lentils, peas and canary seed. […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing ahead with a vaccine mandate for international truckers despite increasing pressure from critics who say it will exacerbate driver shortages and drive up the price of goods imported from the United States. Canada will require all truckers entering from the U.S. to show proof […] Read more

(Xinzheng/Getty Images)

New China import rules bring headaches for food, beverage makers

Cooking oil, milled grains among foods moved to higher-risk categories

Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing | Reuters — Makers of Irish whiskey, Belgian chocolate and European coffee brands are scrambling to comply with new Chinese food and beverage regulations, with many fearful their goods will be unable to enter the giant market as a Jan. 1 deadline looms. China’s customs authority published new food safety rules in April stipulating […] Read more


Delivery vans from the Save-On-Foods grocery store chain wait for a police escort to cross through a landslide near Hope, B.C. on Nov. 18, 2021 to restock the local grocery store after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the region. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)

Panicked shoppers clear out flood-hit B.C.’s grocery stores

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Shoppers in British Columbia have emptied grocery shelves following catastrophic flooding, although the shortages are as much down to panic buying as disrupted supply chains, industry associations said on Thursday. Even as flood waters start to recede, some parts of the province are expected to face to temporary shortages of dairy supplies, with […] Read more

File photo of a Chinese cornfield. (Baona/iStock/Getty Images)

China proposes new rules to ease GMO approvals

Leadership seeks 'turnaround' in seed sector

Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China is planning changes to its seed regulations that will make it easier to approve genetically modified crops, a move seen as a critical step toward commercializing GM corn. The ministry of agriculture and rural affairs published a draft document late on Friday proposing a series of amendments to several different […] Read more