(Dave Bedard photo)

Loblaw beats profit estimates as online sales surge

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Loblaw beat quarterly revenue and profit estimates on Thursday, driven by a near-fourfold jump in online sales, as stay-at-home Canadians used the retailer’s pickup and delivery services to stock up on bread, milk and eggs. With consumers still limiting their trips outdoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said it would invest […] Read more

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Major grocers pull romaine lettuce nationwide

Reading Time: 3 minutes Despite seeing no evidence yet of nationwide contamination, several major Canadian grocers are pulling romaine lettuce from sale across Canada in the wake of E. coli-related illness outbreaks in three provinces. Loblaw Companies announced Wednesday it was recalling and removing from its store shelves across the country all romaine lettuce products “out of an abundance […] Read more


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Cattle traceability to pay off in Cargill pilot

Reading Time: 3 minutes UPDATED, Nov. 2 — A pilot program running through one of Canada’s biggest beef packing plants aims to test systems that can show consumers the exact path of their beef from ranch to restaurant — and reward cattle producers for their trouble. Cargill on Wednesday announced a new year-long Canadian Beef Sustainability Acceleration pilot, with […] Read more

(Stephen Ausmus photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Major retailers say federal bread pricing probe underway

Reading Time: < 1 minute Major Canadian grocery retailers Metro and Loblaw say a federal investigation is underway concerning the pricing of certain commercial bread products. Toronto-based Loblaw and its parent firm, George Weston Ltd., announced Tuesday they’re aware of an “industry-wide investigation” by the federal Competition Bureau concerning a “price-fixing scheme involving certain packaged bread products.” The two companies […] Read more


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Loblaw cuts 500 jobs, plans to reinvest in e-commerce

Reading Time: < 1 minute Toronto | Reuters — Grocery chain Loblaw Co. Ltd. is cutting about 500 jobs across the company, and plans to reinvest the savings into digital and e-commerce services, the company said on Monday. The job cuts, which began on Monday and make up 0.25 per cent of the Toronto-based company’s workforce, will apply to executive […] Read more

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Loblaw reports better-than-expected profit

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Canadian grocery and pharmacy retailer Loblaw Cos. Ltd. reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, as expenses fell and discounting attracted more shoppers. Profit at Loblaw’s main retail unit was helped by lower selling, general and administrative costs, and an increase in same-store sales in the quarter ending Oct. 8, the company said. […] Read more


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Major grocers pledge cage-free eggs by 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes The grocery arm of the body for Canadian retailers has rolled out a 10-year plan to source the eggs its members sell from layer hens raised in “cage-free environments.” The grocer members of the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), which include Loblaw, Sobeys/Safeway, Metro and Wal-Mart Canada, said Friday they are “voluntarily committing to the […] Read more

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Loblaw’s ugly-duckling produce to get swan moment

Reading Time: 2 minutes Produce growers supplying Canada’s Loblaw grocery chains with fruit and vegetables are expected to benefit in sales through a new in-store marketing program for “misshapen” wares. Through its Real Canadian Superstore chain, some of its No Frills stores in Ontario and some of its Maxi stores in Quebec, Loblaw on Thursday launched “Naturally Imperfect” fruit […] Read more