(LCBO.com)

Australia takes Canada to WTO over wine rules

Geneva | Reuters — Australia has complained at the World Trade Organization about Canada’s rules on wine sales, expanding a similar U.S. complaint against one province. In October, Washington accused British Columbia of providing an unfair advantage to local vineyards by giving their wine an exclusive retail channel in grocery store shelves and cutting out

(ChampsMushrooms.ca)

Major B.C. mushroom grower merging into U.S. firm

One of Canada’s biggest mushroom producers is set to merge into one of the biggest North American players in the same sector. Pennsylvania-based South Mill Mushrooms, which grows for distribution across the U.S. and into Eastern Canada, announced Tuesday it will combine its operations with those of Champ’s Mushrooms, based at Aldergrove in the Vancouver


Bestland Air’s facility near Starbuck, Man. (Photo courtesy Richardson International)

Richardson buys Winnipeg-area input retailer

An independent crop input retailer is being merged into one of its neighbours near Winnipeg as grain firm Richardson International continues on a retail expansion track. Privately-held Richardson announced Dec. 11 it has closed a deal to buy the retail assets of Bestland Air Ltd. at Starbuck, Man., about 30 km southwest of Winnipeg. Bestland

We haven’t seen anything like this in a generation

The rise of the ‘grocerant’ appears poised to revolutionize both grocery chains and the restaurant business

Food trends are difficult to follow these days. As with hip sectors such as the high-tech industry, the food industry is coming up with its own peculiar lingo when describing market shifts. One of the latest examples is ‘grocerant,’ a word combining ‘grocer’ and ‘restaurant.’ The term has been around for a few years, but it


Preparing the bill at a restaurant to be taken to a table

The pursuit of convenience

Food costs are falling but many Canadians are paying as much or more than ever

Food inflation continues to be an illusion in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, food prices have dropped once again over the last month, by almost one per cent. Food prices are below the general inflation rate, just as they have been for most of the year to date. The food distribution landscape is much more

(Richardson.ca)

CHS to shed Prairie crop input retail sites

U.S. farm co-operative CHS is stepping back from Canada’s Prairie crop input retail sector with a deal to sell its 10 retail locations to Richardson International. Winnipeg-based Richardson on Tuesday announced it would buy CHS’s Alberta retail sites at Alix, Beiseker, Bow Island, Carseland, Craddock, Lacombe, Rolling Hills, Standard and Vauxhall, and the co-op’s lone


A Metro grocery store at the Orangeville Mall in Orangeville, Ont. (Onereit.ca)

Metro to buy Jean Coutu to stave off looming risks

Toronto | Reuters — Metro Inc., Canada’s third-biggest food retailer, on Monday agreed to buy pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group for $4.5 billion in cash and stock, paying what analysts said was a “steep” premium to protect against risks facing the retail sector. The deal comes at time when global retail giants like Amazon.com, Wal-Mart



Amazon set to take a bite out of the food industry

Given its ability to fuse efficient distribution and strategic market insight, 
the e-commerce giant could well become the leading food retailer in North America

Amazon is intent on becoming the world’s most powerful retailer, with the help of food sales. Amazon’s US$13-billion takeover of Whole Foods isn’t shocking. It’s been rumoured for months. Now the mammoth Amazon, with its large revenues and small profits, has confirmed those rumours by making the biggest deal in its history. And acquiring troubled

From farm to fork, brought to you by artificial intelligence

From farm to fork, brought to you by artificial intelligence

With AI, yields can be improved and grocers can understand consumers — and predict 
their behaviour — better than consumers know themselves

Many Canadian consumers have noticed that lettuce and celery prices have skyrocketed recently. Such fluctuations happen all the time. But artificial intelligence is about to change that. AI has us on the cusp of a revolution in how we make decisions and how we manage virtually every aspect of our daily lives. The agri-food sector