Loblaw announces plans to test produce and ready-to-go foods at some locations
The head of Canada’s largest supermarket chain says hot and fresh foods could soon be coming to Shoppers Drug Mart stores.
Loblaw Companies Ltd. chairman Galen G. Weston says the company will be testing whether there is demand for produce and ready-to-go foods at some Shoppers locations this year.
Weston told shareholders at Loblaw’s annual general meeting that testing may include fresh foods such as bananas, or small meal items, inside the drugstore chain.
The grocery giant purchased the Shoppers stores last year in a $12.4-billion deal.
Since then industry insiders have speculated how Loblaw’s might use Shoppers hundreds of stores (many of which are packed inside high-density urban areas) to sell more food.
Last month, Loblaw’s iconic President’s Choice Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie began showing up on Shoppers Drug Mart shelves, both in the cookie aisle and on front-of-store end caps.
But experts have speculated also that Loblaw’s will do a lot more with food in Shoppers stores by introducing more fresh options and prepared meals.
Loblaw’s president, Vicente Trius, said as much in an analysts conference last fall suggesting that in the future Canadians would be able to pick up breakfast, lunch and dinner options in Shoppers Drug Mart stores.
“Shoppers is a very resilient format. You bring traffic through food… but at the same time you have the potential to convert [that traffic] in the rest of the store,” he said.
Before joining Loblaw, Trius worked at Walmart in Asia and he noted that in Japan many consumers buy their food at convenience stores.
In recent years, Shoppers Drug Mart has increased its offering of food items but has resisted offering large selections of fresh food, although some stores have a small array or bagged apples and bananas.
At Loblaw’s annual general meeting, Weston said he is also considering using Shoppers stores in Toronto as pickup locations for the company’s “click and collect” pilot project, which will allow consumers to purchase groceries and other items online and pick them up in-store.
The initiative, which has been popular in the U.K., will be rolled out at some select Loblaws locations by the end of this year. It lets customers order online, then pick their groceries up at a store.
This story originally appeared in Canadian Grocer
