FreshCo

FreshCo Ltd. is a Canadian chain of deep discount supermarkets owned by Sobeys Inc.[2] It was launched in March 2010.[3] As of April 2019, there were 98 FreshCo stores.

For the fictitious supermarket chain in a British soap opera, see Weatherfield — Freshco.
FreshCo
TypeSupermarket
IndustryRetail
PredecessorPrice Chopper
Commisso's Food Markets/Food Terminal (Ontario and eastern provinces) Safeway
Sobeys (Western Canada)
Founded2010[1]
HeadquartersMississauga, Ontario
Stellarton, Nova Scotia
ProductsBakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, general grocery, general merchandise, meat & poultry, produce, seafood, snacks
OwnerEmpire Company
ParentSobeys

In December 2017, Sobeys Inc. announced plans to re-brand up to 64 stores in western Canada currently under the Safeway and Sobeys names into the FreshCo banner.[4]

FreshCo's main competitors in Canada include Nofrills (Loblaws) and Food Basics (Metro).

Business model
Freshco in Richmond Hill, Ontario
A FreshCo store in Aldergrove, British Columbia with the "Lowering Food Prices" slogan
A FreshCo location in Leamington, Ontario with the old branding and "Fresher, Cheaper" slogan.

FreshCo aims to offer customers fresh, high-quality food at discount prices in a modern shopping setting.[5] FreshCo aims to accomplish the look of a "well-appointed fresh-format store" or "market feel", instead of a discounter with a "price-impact banner boasting the cheapest prices in the market", by making the store aisles more spacious.

FreshCo offers a diverse selection of frozen and chilled ethnic products to reflect the community in which they operate.[6] FreshCo also has a "Fresh Hall" product aisle featuring fresh products, daily baked goods made in community bakeries, and a variety of Ontario cheeses and meats. A feature aisle provides with savings opportunities for the customers.[6][7]

Until summer 2019, FreshCo used the slogan, "Fresher, Cheaper."[8] If customers are not satisfied with their product, they are eligible for a refund. In late 2019, FreshCo unveiled a new motto, "Lowering Food Prices," claiming to be the cheapest store. They also unveiled the "Double fresh guarantee," offering a refund and exchange if you are not satisfied with your purchase.

Price Chopper

Price Chopper had operated in Ontario in the 1990s under the ownership of Oshawa Group. Oshawa Group, including the Price Chopper chain, was acquired by Sobeys in 1998 as part of the latter's entry into the Ontario market. The 87 Price Chopper stores were scattered around many neighbourhoods in Ontario, particularly low-income communities.[6]

By the late 2000s, Price Chopper was facing increased competition from Loblaw Companies, which was opening more No Frills discount grocery stores in Eastern Canada.

According to an analyst from CIBC World Markets, Price Chopper had been regarded as an unprofitable also-ran for decades, under both Oshawa Group and Sobeys, with no lasting improvements from repeated turnaround efforts. The chain's few private-label offerings hurt its gross margins. Price Chopper was not contributing much to parent Sobeys' bottom line and lagged far behind Loblaw's No Frills and Metro's (formerly A&P Canada's) Food Basics in discount supermarket share, which was particularly significant in the Ontario market where discount grocers held 35 to 40 percent of the food shopping market.[9] Overall, Sobeys was struggling in Ontario, having only made 25% of its profits there despite that province containing 40% of its retail real estate, due to an outdated supply chain and unfavourable locations.[6]

Sobeys closed some Price Chopper stores in the Atlantic provinces or converted them to its Foodland banner.

Former Price Chopper store on Gladstone Avenue in Toronto, now a FreshCo.

Sobeys hired Rob Adams, who was previously with Loblaw Companies managing its No Frills discount grocery division, to run its discount grocer chain. Adams came up with the idea for FreshCo to carry higher quality goods to differentiate them from other discount supermarkets.

According to parent company Sobeys, FreshCo is considered to be a new brand and not just a replacement for Price Chopper. However, most FreshCo stores were renovated and converted from existing Price Chopper locations, with only a handful of FreshCo stores that were newly built or converted from other retailers, essentially making FreshCo the de facto successor to Price Chopper. The first eight FreshCo stores were launched on May 12, 2010 in Brampton and Mississauga, Ontario. By April 2012, FreshCo expanded to 68 stores in Ontario.[10]

Reportedly, customer reception to FreshCo has been positive, and Sobeys has enjoyed the highest same-store increase in sales among major Canadian supermarket chains over the past few years.[6]

The last Price Chopper store, located in Scarborough, closed permanently on December 20th, 2020. Another location previously open at Jane and Sheppard in Toronto closed on September 13, 2019.

Chalo FreshCo
A Chalo FreshCo location in Malton, Ontario Canada

Sobeys opened its first South Asian–focused FreshCo store in August 2015 in Brampton. Branded as Chalo FreshCo (chalo meaning "let's go" in Indo-Aryan languages like Punjabi, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, and Urdu), it is billed as the first grocery store in Canada for "desis". It is designed to attract South Asian shoppers by providing a wider variety of South Asian products under one roof.[11] The store's success inspired the opening of two more Brampton locations in September 2016[12] and March 2019,[13] as well as the conversion of the newly renovated Frescho at Westwood Square Mall in Mississauga to the banner in December 2017.[14] The Chalo brand expanded outside of Ontario for the first time in 2019 with the founding of two supermarkets in Surrey, British Columbia, in the city's Newton and Strawberry Hill neighborhoods, in July.[15] Another Chalo! Freshco location was opened in February of 2020 in Abbotsford, BC. This brings the total number of Chalo locations to seven - 4 in Ontario and 3 in BC.

FreshCo locations

There are 95 stores operating under the FreshCo banner in Ontario:

Manitoba:

Saskatchewan:

British Columbia:

Future BC Locations:[16] (Opening spring 2020)

Future Alberta Locations:[17] (Opening fall 2021)

See also

References
  1. "FreshCo Facts" (PDF). Sobeys. 12 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  2. Flavelle, Dana (12 May 2010). "Sobeys tests new discount food stores". Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. Kwon, Nancy (September 2011). "Don't Discount these discounters". Canadian Grocer. 125 (7): 12–13. ProQuest 898434879.
  4. Lee-Young, Joanne (13 December 2017). "National supermarket wars ripple into B.C.'s grocery market". Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Corporation. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  5. Whipp, Ted (1 December 2010). "FreshCo stores new, stylish". The Windsor Star. p. C.3. ProQuest 816215662.
  6. Pachner, Joanna (23 June 2010). "How Sobeys is taking on Loblaws". The Globe and Mail.
  7. "Canada's Sobeys launching new discount format". Produce News. 20 May 2010.
  8. Holloway, Andy (2010). "Getting fresh". Canadian Grocer. 124 (5): 23–25. ProQuest 613344791.
  9. CBC News 12 MaY 2012
  10. "Sobeys Inc. Launches FreshCo. Discount Stores: Quality Fresh Food at Low, Low Prices and Less Compromise". Marketwire. 12 May 2010. ProQuest 276011890.
  11. "Sobeys launches South Asian store". Canadian Grocer. August 27, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  12. "Chalo! FreshCo opens second Brampton location". CanIndia News. October 7, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-12-26. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  13. Vertolli, Riziero (2019-03-19). "New Chalo! FreshCo has opened its doors in Brampton". Brampton Guardian. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  14. "Westwood Square: New Retail Has Now Opened". yoursauga. 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  15. Collins, Lauren (2019-07-11). "Surrey Chalo! FreshCo locations officially open: Discount grocery stores geared 'heavily' toward South Asian community". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
  16. "Safeway to rebrand several stores as FreshCo". Kelowna Cap News. June 4, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  17. "6 Alberta Safeway stores being rebranded to discount FreshCo chain". CTV News. January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
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