Food Flash Mob

Flash mobs seem to be happening all over the world some done intentionally for promotional reasons others done spontaneously for shock value. Here is some excellent online publicity for the grocery retailer coming from a group that spontaneously starts dancing in a store in clayton park. Or maybe it was on purpose?

Sobeys News

The current Sobeys president and CEO Bill McEwan is going to retire at the end of the fiscal year.  The board of directors for Empire and Sobeys reported this through a newsletter put out on February 8. The news release also stated that mr. McEwan was retiring due to continuous health issues and that the board respectfully supported the decision he had made to retire in may 2012 which is the end of the fiscal year for Sobeys. Mr. McEwan has been the President and CEO of Sobeys for almost twelve years and in those twelve years he has implemented initiatives that ill surely continue to be used far after his retirement. on the news release it also states that the company is currently undergoing the processes of nominating his succesor a task that falls on the human resources department.  See the link below to read the actual press release.

 http://www.sobeyscorporate.com/App_Themes/SobeysCorporate/media/en/SOBEYS-CEO-TO-RETIRE-NEXT-FISCAL-YEAR.pdf

Fishy Business

As part of the Sobeys sustainability program the grocery giant has put to practice a seafood policy. So what exactly does this consist of ?
Sobeys has worked along with industry leaders from fisheries, Simon Fraser University and the David Suzuki foundation to implement their very own seafood sustainability policy that goes beyond certification systems and ecolabels with the purpose of improving and controlling in a environmentally friendly manner the population of the wild british columbia salmon as seen in the following video.

Sustainability

One of Sobeys main focuses in Social responsibility is sustainability. They have taken to improving their performance as business but with reasonable, practical and environmentally responsible business practices. One of the programs that Sobeys is known for rolling out was the reusable green bag for grocery shopping. In November 2006 Sobeys introduced the reusable Green bags for Life to customers in an effort to raise awareness for environmentally friendly practices through their customers. 

The program was a complete success not only because 16.3 million bags were sold to date but because it caused such an impact on customers that many of them almost demanded all grocer follow these standards causing competing stores to emulate the environmental program set out by Sobeys. Their program is still unique in the sense that they gladly will replace a bag for free if it has fulfilled its usage and lifespan to its fullest. Sobeys Atlantic was the recipient of the 2007 Mobius environmental award for waste reduction education.

Let the robots do the work!

Sobeys is constantly looking for more convenient ways of distributing its products. One of the more recent operations decisions that was made to acknowledge this concept was the opening of a leading edge distribution centre in Vaughn. Its cutting edge technology allows automation to handle most of the distributing and provides the company with incredible cost cuts. It is further detailed in this video

Helping Students

Part of Sobeys giving back to the community program is helping out students who might be in need of financial aid for school. By offering flexible work schedules for full time students Sobeys values the importance of education and growth of members of its own team. On top of that Sobeys offers the Sobeys and Empire work experience and scholarship program which includes the Future leader scholarship that awards 10,000 dollars over a span of four years to full time study and summer internship programs. So not only does the scholarship provide you with the financial benefit but Sobeys hires you for the summer to work in their internship program. Along with that Sobeys offers many co op programs for students that may be interestd in developing a career with the company.Sobeys itself provides many career options in areas like Finance, Accounting, Marketing, IT, Merchandising, Store operations and Human resources. Some students might think that the careers offered by Sobeys are limited because its only a grocery retail store but because of its affiliation with other Empire company owned businesses it offers an incredible span of working opportunities for any graduating student. Make sure to check out the link if your looking for a part time job that offers flexible hours to focus on your full time studies.

Link : http://www.sobeyscareers.com/Students.aspx

Loyalty

Loyalty programs are all the rave in businesses nowadays. its convenient for the consumer because they get rewarded for purchasing in a "loyal" manner with a brand and the retailers benefit from the information of consumer behaviour trends data that is provided by the usage of loyalty program cards. Sobeys is no different. Affiliated with the loyalty program giant Airmiles  rewards the company's goal is to understand consumer needs. It offers a reward mile for every $20 spent in the store. Sobeys has the same loyalty program throughout its affiliated stores and offers the same rewards points except for Lawtons drugs which offers an air mile reward point for every $10 spent. Before being affiliated with airmiles the company had its own loyalty program called Club Sobeys even though the program still exists today the members that were a part of the club have been upgraded to airmiles loyalty members. The points accumulated can be redeemed within sobey for various prizes  like Sobeys gift certificates.

A newer affiliation with Citibank Canada and Bank of Montreal has allowed Sobeys to provide customers with the Club Sobeys Mastercard credit card. This card is an extension of the company's Compliments everyday banking banner. It allows its users to accumulate double the rewards points it would accumulate with the regular club sobeys reward plan and you can accumulate the points anywhere you shop. Club Sobeys also has an affiliation with Esso in which you can exchange the club sobeys points for Esso points at no extra cost.

 Unfortunately for Ontario the airmiles program doesn't exist in Sobeys stores or affiliates due to a previous agreement of Airmiles to only deal with Metro

Feeling Inspired

A very convenient service that Sobeys provides is something called Inspired magazine. It is a online collection of recipes that is linked from the Sobeys website. It provides a great deal of recipes that are categorized by the type of meal whether it be breakfast lunch or dinner, by dish type like side, salads or baked goods, by recipe categories like if a recipe is healthy for you or if a quick recipe section for meals that can be prepared within 30 minutes. One of the last categories that is interesting is the one that is based around holidays this includes a compilation of recipes that can be prepared for Christmas time or thanksgiving. The website also includes videos to demonstrate the actual preparation of the different recipes. Its like having a cooking show on demand. The season inspired recipes is especially convenient for Canadians. Having to endure distinctive  climate changes throughout the year these recipes cater to the different produce that can be obtained through the different seasons. The past issues of the magazine go back to 2006 so there is plenty of recipes to look back upon. Make sure to check out this site if you don't know what to cook for dinner tonight.

Link: http://www.inspired.ca/en/Home.aspx

Sobeys Gas Station?

Even though this seems like the company is contemplating an aggressive venture into a new area of business Sobeys has been providing services like this in their hometown of Nova Scotia for many years. Their gas bar is branded Sobeys Fast Fuels and also provides many convenience store features you might see at any gas station. Currently Sobeys is actually attempting to expand its gasoline retailing business. It has recently purchased 250 Shell gas station in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. This deal is in the hopes to leverage their wholesale and convenience business through their growing retail gas operations. Ultimately it will give the company a stronger name presence in the province of Quebec.for more information on the business venture check out the link below to the CBC article that reports on this matter

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/12/15/sobeys-shell-gas-stations.html

Food Facts

Sobeys is the second largest Canadian grocery retailer in Canada. It was founded in Stellarton Nova Scotia in 1907 by John W. Sobey. With it being one of the only two major grocery retailers in Canada it is held in high regards and with a strong presence in Canadian consumers due to its services and over 100 years of experience in the business. here are some interesting facts about the company that have made the retailing giant what it is today.

• Sobeys was originally a meat delivery business based in Stellarton that consisted of a horse-drawn cart that would go around and purchase or collect livestock from local farmers for resale.
• In 1924 John W. Sobey's 16 year old son was the one that gave his father the idea of expanding the business to a full line of groceries
• The Sobeys business was entirely focused in Atlantic Canada for 80 years. It wasn't till 1987 that they open their first store outside if this area in Guelph, Ontario.
• Sobeys open its first self serve supermarket in 1949.

• in 1998 Sobeys purchased the Oshawa group owners of the IGA franchise across Canada and became the nations second largest grocer. By 2007 the Sobeys name expanded to include several other well known Canadian grocery chains as seen on the image on the left.
• Sobeys main competitor is the Ontario based Loblaws.
• 2007 was also the year that the company was taken private by the majority shareholder Empire Company Limited.
• Sobeys operates over 1300 stores throughout 10 provinces in Canada.
• In 2011 the Sobeys wholesale division signed an agreement with the american retailers Target to supply select foods and grocery products to its new Canadian stores that have yet to open.
• The Sobeys private label brand was known originally as Sobeys than change to Our Best and eventually came to be called Compliments which is the name by which we know the Sobeys private label brand today.
• Sobeys has a partnership with the airmiles loyalty program. One reward mile is earned per 20 dollars spent in the store. This works the same way throughout all of their retailer associates except for their stand alone drugstore Lawtons drugs.