Today, July 19, is Grocery Heroes Day and it’s an opportunity to acknowledge the dedicated people throughout the industry in retail and supply.
Grocery Business created Grocery Heroes Day in 2020 to recognize the efforts of people working throughout the industry who overcame the daily challenges of keeping stores open and providing food for Canadians during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the pandemic is behind us, industry champions continue to support shoppers, communities and important causes.
In the upcoming July/August issue of Grocery Business, we’ll introduce you to just a few of the thousands of people who make this industry better. Here is a snapshot of some of the stories. Look out for the next issue of Grocery Business to read more about the individuals below and other people and businesses who support the grocery industry and their communities.
Shena Tulloch, a merchant at Walmart Canada
Shena Tulloch supports different community causes and wants to set an example for her daughters about making a difference. Among her many initiatives she commissioned local artists to create artwork reflecting current social issues. The artwork was integrated onto product offerings such as tote bags and apparel help to amplify awareness of the social issues – and gave a platform to local artists. According to Walmart, Tulloch has held presentations with colleagues on conscious bias and looked for ways to merge social issues, culture and inclusion into her day-to-day, seeking out partnerships with woman-led businesses, small businesses and businesses run by diverse groups. Her most recent initiative was a collaboration with Toronto-based contemporary artist, Saffron Francis who drew inspiration from her Trinidadian-Canadian heritage to design Walmart Canada’s exclusive International Women’s Day t-shirts and tote bags. Proceeds from each shirt will be donated to the Canadian Women’s Foundation to support programs for women, girls and gender-diverse people.
Anne Fontaine, Real Canadian Superstore, Winnipeg, Man.
Anne Fontaine piloted a program in her Winnipeg store that provides Loblaw store employees with language pins identifying the languages they speak in. Today the program is running in more than 119 Superstores with more than 3,800 colleagues across the country. Colleagues are wearing pins that cover 54 languages including Arabic, Flemish, Japanese, Nlaka’pamux nation, Serbian, Ukrainian and more, with another 51 languages including American Sign Language, Syrian, Kannada, Ojibwe, in development.
Fontaine says she’s seen a positive impact, noting one customer who seeks out a particular manager who’s from Cuba and helps her find things in the store. Similarly, two women from Ukraine regularly ask a Ukrainian-speaking colleague for help find the products they’re used to using back home, or the Canadian equivalents. Loblaw says the language pins have even come in handy during emergencies.
Fontaine adds the pins have also offered opportunities for bonding and team building.
“Sometimes colleagues hadn’t even realized they spoke the same language, so I found the connections in the lunchroom even got better with the language program, before it even affected my customers.”
Pattison Food Group: Wildfire and Flood Relief Support
Wildfire relief support: Last summer, as B.C. faced the most destructive wildfire season on record, Kelowna was hit particularly hard. In mid-August, wildfires tore through the city, destroying homes and displacing thousands. The company’s typically busy summer selling season became a critical mission of keeping community members and emergency workers fed and watered as the city emptied out due to evacuations and wildfire threats to property.
PFG says its office teams managed logistics by navigating highway closures, filling emergency orders and ensuring product integrity. Local stores in Kelowna such as Save-On-Foods became hubs for the region, with employees working round-the-clock to provide water and supplies to wildfire and conservation crews, emergency workers, local food banks, and organizations such as the Red Cross to support evacuees. Nature’s Fare in West Kelowna even donated pizza to both the food bank in Lake Country and to evacuees and firefighters. On August 22, PFG enacted the Disaster Relief Fund in partnership with Red Cross at tills across British Columbia, with all donations matched by the company dollar for dollar. Customers were also given the option to redeem 1,000 More Rewards points as a $4 donation toward the fund. In total, we raised more than $64,000 in support of those affected by the wildfires.
Flood relief support: In November 2021, B.C. was hit by an atmospheric river bringing record-breaking rainfall and flooding to Southern B.C. and Vancouver Island. In a matter of hours, 35 major roads were deemed impassable, including all the major routes in and out of the Lower Mainland. The province declared a state of emergency on November 17, 2021.
Members of PFG and its banners immediately went to extraordinary lengths to ensure the community and stranded travelers received essential goods and medicines while supply chains were interrupted. The team coordinated helicopter drops of emergency supplies including pharmaceuticals to communities cut off by the floods; rerouted deliveries through its Edmonton warehouse; hired additional truck drivers to deliver loads into B.C. from the east; and coordinated an RCMP escort along a still-closed highway to make the first delivery into the devastated community of Hope, B.C. The company launched a Red Cross disaster relief fundraising campaign to raise funds to support communities devastated by weather damage. At the conclusion of this campaign, Save-On-Foods matched customer donations dollar for dollar and provided $258,078 to the Canadian Red Cross. The Government of Canada and Government of British Columbia also matched the donations, tripling the donation to $774,234 in relief funding.
Grocery Business will feature more stories in the upcoming July/August issue.
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