Grocery Innovations Canada Announces Exciting 2014 Programming

Grocery Innovations Canada Announces Exciting 2014 Programming and Media Accreditation

September 4, 2014 TORONTO – The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG) is hosting its annual conference, Grocery Innovations Canada 2014 (GIC), at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (North Building) on Monday, September 29 and Tuesday, September 30. The conference draws key industry members from Canada’s grocery sector to see the latest offerings in food, equipment, technology, service providers, and food processors.

This year’s conference will feature over 350 exhibitors, a live chef cooking stage, an innovative new product competition, and the latest product offerings in grocery trends and industry news. This year’s trade floor will feature international flavours in the VISA Global Food Festival pavilion, local products in the Choose Ontario Pavilion, and green products in the Sustain Lane section.

Media Accreditation is now open for registration. Applicants will be provided individual passes to the trade show, live show, competitions, and speaker series if so desired. (To apply for media accreditation now, contact nkwon@cfig.ca.)

Monday Programming
The conference will commence with opening speaker Bonnie Brooks (Vice Chairman, Hudson’s Bay Company) focusing on retail reinvention and The Bay’s transformation from department store to luxury destination in her talk, “Turnaround at The Bay: How Bonnie Brooks Revitalized Canada’s Iconic Retailer.” Following Bonnie will be speaker Marion Chan from TrendSpotter Consulting giving her expertise on “The New Consumers – How They Buy and Why.”

Steve Fox (Nestlé Canada) and John Briuolo, Ken Schley and Noel Hayward of Quality Foods of Vancouver Island, B.C.) will each be given the Award of Merit at Monday’s Luncheon of Honour. The awards continue Monday as judging commences for the Most Innovative New Product competition, and an exciting Dragon’s Den style opportunity for new products to pitch to key grocers to get on the shelf in stores. Other awards being handed out on Monday include the award for Best Booth and a cheque presentation, from General Mills to the Ontario Association of Food Banks.

Tuesday Programming
Jacques Farcy of Dunnhumby Canada will kick off Tuesday’s speaker series in his seminar, “Deep Dive Into Data Insights.” Tesco’s Clubcard is considered one of the most important retail innovations of the 20th century. The loyalty programme, with Dunnhumby’s customer science behind it, was a pioneer in garnering big data and driving loyalty among customers. Farcy will look into what’s next as the company helps brands like Coca-Cola and retailers like Canadian Tire and Metro create personalized customer experiences in digital, mobile, and retail environments, using data and insights from more than 660 million shoppers across the globe.

Bryan Gildenberg (Kantar Retail) will follow by speaking to global trends and how to stay connected to today’s connected consumer. The afternoon’s workshops will be given by some of the Canadian grocery industry’s top influencers, including Judy McArthur and Irene Stathakos of McCain Foods, who’ll delve into what’s driving HMR(home meal replacements). Also, Nicole Fetterly of Choices Markets will be speaking about “ROI Out of Registered Dietitians,” while Carman Allison, VP of Consumer Insights for Nielsen Canada, will look at “How different Consumers View Health.”

The conference will conclude with the gala dinner and the Canadian Independent Grocer of the Year Awards where the grand prize winner of a trip to the National Grocers Association show in Las Vegas will be announced.

Special Features
This year, the conference’s live cooking event will be a two-part series called “What’s for Dinner?” In this competition, four chefs from local supermarkets will face off against each other to create a home meal replacement using a top trend ingredient. Chefs will have 15 minutes to prepare their dishes and then judges will select the winner after scoring each of the dishes.

On the trade floor, Sustain Lane will feature the latest innovative products helping us to reduce our ecological footprint and encourage environmental sustainability in the grocery industry. The Choose Ontario Pavilion will showcase the newest and greatest from Ontario producers showcasing the best local products.

Grocery Innovations Canada (GIC) is Canada’s premier grocery event developed by industry professionals, for industry professionals. It is the only event in Canada dedicated to the entire grocery industry and is the largest one of its kind. GIC is at the forefront of innovation, showcasing cutting edge products and services. The conference provides exceptional opportunities for networking and foresight into current and upcoming industry trends.

To apply for media accreditation for GIC, e-mail: nkwon@cfig.ca .