News Briefs

Canada’s Farm Boy has released plans for the Feb. 9 opening of its Sugar Wharf store in downtown Toronto. This marks the eighth location in Toronto for the The Empire Co. Ltd. banner.

Farm Boy currently operates 46 locations in Ontario and is widely known for its local farm-fresh produce as well as butcher-quality meats, artisan cheese, fresh dairy and an extensive grab-and-go section. It recently celebrated the grand opening of its Aurora store on Jan. 19.

“We’re excited to welcome customers to our Sugar Wharf location to get a taste of the signature Farm Boy experience,” said Shawn Linton, president and general manager of Ottawa, Ontario-based Farm Boy. “We will continue to offer a wide range of freshly made grab-and-go options for customers looking for a quick and tasty breakfast, lunch or dinner, as well as the freshest seasonal produce and highest-quality meat options. Our team is focused on providing customers an exceptional in-store experience with outstanding service that is truly all about the food.”

Located on the second level of 100 Queens Quay East in the same building as the new Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) location, the new 29,600-square-foot location will employ 125 people in the community. Culinary options include a made-to-order burger station, fresh sushi and a juicer. Hundreds of Farm Boy private label products and plenty of fresh locally sourced foods will also be available.

Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc., and related real estate. With approximately CAD $30.5 billion in annual sales and CAD $16.3 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 130,000 people. The company is No. 22 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. 

ShopRite is expanding its health and wellness program, adding a personalization feature to its online platform. A series of new dietary lifestyle filters on its website and app will enable users to browse products and scroll recipes based on their unique needs.

Part of ShopRite’s Well Everyday portfolio, the new shopping filters are designed to help consumers optimize their nutrition and food choices. Current filters include dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, organic, kosher, diabetes-friendly, keto-friendly, low-sodium and low-sugar, among others.

[Read more: "Atlantic City ShopRite Won’t Happen"]

“We are proud to unveil new features on our website to help better serve our customers and make it easier for them to achieve their health and wellness goals,” said Natalie Menza Crowe, director of marketing and wellness for ShopRite. “Whether customers are looking to make a lifestyle change or find convenient ways to shop for their needs, our registered dietitians are a valuable resource to help them live well. We look forward to continuing to serve our communities and provide convenient, on-trend solutions and inspiration.”

Online customers can access the retailer’s health and wellness solutions in one button. Other features on the ShopRite site and app include downloadable recipe books, meal ideas, resource guides and local events, often geared around themes.

The digital offerings complement the grocer’s other health and wellness programs. For example, ShopRite offers in-store dietitian coaching and classes.

Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern comprises more than 40 members that independently own and operate 360-plus supermarkets under the ShopRite, Price Rite Marketplace, The Fresh Grocer, Dearborn Market, Gourmet Garage and Fairway Market banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Together with its member companies, Wakefern employs nearly 80,000 people. The company is No. 25 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 listing of North America’s top food and consumables retailers in North America.

As part of its full-store expansion plans, retail media network Grocery TV has acquired Mediaworks Advertising Solutions, a digital out-of-home network that works with grocers around the country. The Minneapolis, Minn.-based Mediaworks is unique in that it offers a sanitizing wipe-dispensing base with a 32-inch display on top, a cleanliness feature that is important to shoppers in a decade defined by the global pandemic.

Mediaworks’ solutions are in place at banners including Schnucks, Cub and Lunds & Byerlys. Going forward, the system will become part of Grocery TV’s Entrance product line. The company reports that it will be installing the stations in all of its network stores by the end of this year.

[Read more: "Grocery TV Appoints Digital Media Veteran as 1st CRO"]

According to Marlow Nickell, co-founder and CEO of Austin, Texas-based Grocery TV, the sanitizer stations help stores and brands reach shoppers with dynamic video ads and enable grocers to update their stores and potentially boost incremental revenue. “The Mediaworks acquisition is part of our full-store product expansion, which gives retailers and brands an all-in-one platform to reach shoppers throughout the store and at all stages of the buying journey,” he remarked.

As part of the deal, Mediaworks’ president Brian Swanson will join Grocery TV in a new role to oversee the transition the business and focus on expanding its retailer network.

BJ’s Wholesale Club is stepping up to provide more mental health and wellness services to its employees. The warehouse club operator recently tapped holistic platform LifeSpeak Inc. to offer education and caregiver support to 30,000 team members and their dependents.

The on-demand solutions include a library of resources covering topics such as mindfulness, resilience, managing stress and other topics. Employees can also take advantage of LifeSpeak’s support offerings to help resolve various caregiving issues. Management staff and leadership at BJ’s can leverage the platform’s resources to help understand and support their team’s caregiving needs.

[Read more: "BJ’s to Open 14th Location in Virginia"]

"LifeSpeak's digital mental health and caregiver support solutions allow us to support the unique needs of our team members across our footprint, many of whom are facing personal and caregiver challenges at home, while delivering exceptional support to our team members in the field," explained Mark Griffin, SVP and chief human resources officer at BJ's. "By providing our team members with 24/7 access to micro-learning videos, podcasts, guides and advising from hundreds of the world's leading well-being and caregiver support experts, we hope to destigmatize conversations about mental health in the workplace and expand our family-first culture."

Michael Held, LifeSpeak’s CEO and founder, cited a Mental Health America survey showing that four in five employees report workplace stress affects their relationships with friends, families and co-workers and Harvard Business School research indicating 80% of employees feel that caregiving affects their productivity. “This signals a clear need for workplace mental health and caregiving support," Held said. "By giving employees access to a diverse range of resources, personalized support, and learning opportunities, BJ's Wholesale Club is demonstrating its commitment to improving the mental health and quality of life for its employees."

Marlborough, Mass.-based BJ's operates more than 230 clubs, 160-plus BJ’s Gas locations and seven distribution centers in 18 states. The company is No. 26 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. 

Stop & Shop is ramping up efforts to curb food waste by expanding the availability of the Flashfood program. The retailer is widening the digital marketplace to 34 more stores in Massachusetts, following its implementation in 70 locations across its footprint.

Already, Stop & Shop estimates that it has diverted nearly 170,000 pounds of food from landfills through the program that connects consumers with discounted food close to its best-by date. About a third of the stores adding Flashfood Zones are located in the Cape Cod area of the state.

“We know that value and variety are important to our customers, and like Stop & Shop, many of our Massachusetts shoppers are focused on helping to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Holland Ricker, Stop & Shop's regional VP of operations. “We’re proud of this recent expansion of Flashfood to our Massachusetts customers, and hope that shopping the Flashfood marketplace at Stop & Shop will help offer them sustainable shopping options with ways to also save significantly on groceries.”

Added Josh Domingues, Flashfood’s founder and CEO: “With 16 to 18% of Massachusetts households struggling with food insecurity, it is rewarding to know that our expansion will help improve accessibility to affordable food in the region.”

At a time when consumers are seeking both value and sustainability, Stop & Shop plans to keep going with Flashfood. It announced it will roll out the digital marketplace to more stores in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey this year. 

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC is an Ahold Delhaize USA company that operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Ahold Delhaize USA, a division of Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize, is No. 10 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Its brands are Food Lion, FreshDirect, The Giant Co., Giant Food, Hannaford, Stop & Shop, Peapod, and Retail Business Services.

Bowery Farming, the largest U.S. vertical-farming company, is continuing to expand its leadership team with the addition of Glenn Wells as SVP of sales.

Cincinnati-based Wells brings to his new role extensive produce industry experience in startup revenue generation, strategic account growth, go-to-market sales strategy, and customer development. He joins Bowery from Fifth Season, a Pittsburgh-based vertical-farming company, where he was SVP of sales. Before that, Wells was SVP of sales and marketing at Curation Foods; VP of sales, North America at Dole Food Co.; and director, grocery customer teams at Welch’s. He has a degree in business management from Texas A&M University. 

“Bowery is growing fast, and I’m thrilled to join the team at such a pivotal moment,” said Wells. “As Bowery expands to new geographic farm locations in Georgia, Texas and beyond, and continues to grow its product portfolio with chef-inspired salad kits, I’m excited to support the company’s national retail expansion, bringing Bowery’s fresh flavors to more people in more places.”

In December, the company hired Robert Ybarra as director of business development. 

These executive moves come at a time of accelerated growth for New York-based Bowery, which has doubled revenue for the second consecutive year and is now available at more than 1,400 stores and e-commerce partners. The company has also expanded beyond leafy greens and into new categories of pesticide-free produce, including strawberries and salad kits. Bowery currently has five farms in operation, including a state-of-the-art R&D and innovation farm for pioneering indoor agriculture science, and two commercial farms under development that will more than double the company’s total production by 2023.