Message from CEO
The totals are in and we can’t thank our customers enough; with your generous help we raised over $31,000 from our Holiday Star Campaign that ran November 1 to December 24. The entire amount was donated to the eight neighbourhood houses closest to our retail outlets.
The money is used to support various social programs such as before-and-after school care, parenting classes, nutrition courses and more. In conjunction with our Star Program we also managed, with the remarkable support of our suppliers, to set a record for donating 180 boxes of food for less-fortunate families in our communities. Our sincerest thanks goes to each of our customers, suppliers and staff who so willingly donated to these wonderful initiatives.
On a completely different track, I thought I would pass along my top five food predictions for 2012:
1. Food prices will continue to rise—especially if the economies of Brazil, China and India continue along their current growth curves.
2. Local will gain even more momentum.
3. Social media will push food trends, ingredients and deal pricing.
4. Boomers will still be the dominant demographic but with a twist; they will buy less but spend more for quality products with high nutritional value.
5. Resurgence in name brand quality products as discerning shoppers shy away from bulk buying house brands in favour of smaller portion-premium quality national brands.