Oh, how our views towards food have changed. Growing up, we enjoyed delicious meals without worrying about ingredients, sugar or sodium levels, or the nutritional needs they met. We relied on our healthcare system and a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter medications to manage our health. Unlike today, we hardly imagined using an injection […]
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Prior to Covid, household grocery shopping was primarily an in-person, flexible, and social weekly routine. It was defined by: Frequent trips: Households made multiple trips per week to the grocery store. Meal planning: Meal planning was often minimal or improvised, with shoppers walking down aisles to see what looked appealing or inspiration-buying on the spot. […]
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From the 1970s to the late 1990’s, people embraced a wide range of foods with little concern for chemical additives or hidden sugars, while official nutrition labelling was still evolving. By the turn of the century, consumers demanded simple, recognizable, and wholesome ingredients, fueling the rise of the “Clean Label” movement. Today, food ingredient scanning […]
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Sustainability has become such a constant buzzword in the grocery sector that it is hard to know where to begin. It’s said that the concept of sustainability began during the Industrial Revolution. The modern evolution of sustainability began in the 1970s popularized alongside the first Earth Day. Though sustainability today is a key consumer priority; […]
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Brands have shaped consumer behaviour for centuries. Early forms of branding date back to around 2700 BCE in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, where cattle ranchers marked livestock to show ownership. Branding evolved significantly during the Industrial Revolution (1750–1870), when mass production made it essential for companies to distinguish their products from competitors. Today, brands compete […]
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Since the pandemic ended, consumers have been adjusting to a cost-of-living crisis. With food among the top three essentials, rising grocery prices have pushed shoppers to make more deliberate choices that balance hunger, health, and emotional needs. For instance, in the UK, food prices are on track to be 50% higher in November than at […]
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Transparency has significantly reshaped business accountability by increasing consumer influence, rendering openness an essential requirement, and facilitating swift public responses to business practices, production methods, and employee relations. A recent study undertaken by Sprout Social supports the powers of transparency: 86% of consumers believe transparency from businesses is more important than ever.[1] A business’s commitment […]
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Kraft Dinner that was introduced into the Canadian market in 1937, was hailed as an affordable meal during the Great Depression. Yet, consumers were unaware that it contained synthetic dyes. In response to health concerns and consumer pressure, Kraft announced in 2015 that it would remove the dyes Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 by the end of […]
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Millennials and Generation Z have significantly influenced the grocery industry. “They’re looking beyond tangible products and actually trying to understand what is it that makes the company tick. What’s its mission? What’s its purpose? And what is it actually trying to build for us as a society”?[1] Bo Finneman To meet modern consumer expectations initiated […]
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How a simple task such as grocery shopping has evolved. In the 1960s, my mother was responsible for grocery shopping. The only grocery store available was our local Dominion. 1960’s Dominion Flyer Special thank you to Jim Slomka Historically, cashiers manually entered the price of each item at checkout. This changed in July 1974 when […]
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