Locally owned grocers fight for their spot at the table

Small, locally owned grocery vendors are doing what they can do keep up in the industry as a handful of major retailers dominate the market.

A highly anticipated study released Tuesday by the Competition Bureau said concentration in the grocery industry has increased in recent years and the largest grocers have increased the amount they make on sales.

Organic Chef Foods, which focuses on a variety of sauces, has experienced an increase in the cost of operating lately.

“Suppliers are demanding more, transportation costs are up, everything is up,” Patti Jackson with Organic Chef Foods said.

She said creating high quality products that contain good ingredients keep customers coming back.

“It is more reasonable to find a product that’s not loaded with junk, and therefore you don’t have to use as much as the regular grocery store items,” she explained.

Organic Chef Foods is regularly set up at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, where other vendors have noticed an increase in customers as shoppers try to save.

“There has been a lot more people coming to shop here at the market because our prices almost match the grocery store prices, and we have good deals,” Alex Scheid with Cloverleaf Farms, a meat producer, said.

In order to compete with major retailers, one food expert said small companies can hone in on their speciality.

“Find things that are different or even novel,” Mike Von Massow, a food economist from the University of Guelph, said.

There are also ways for shoppers to save, which include keeping an open mind.

“Having the ability and the willingness to try different things like what’s seasonal, what’s on special, what’s close to the end. Being able to cook them and being willing to eat them is a great way of stretching a dollar,” Von Massow said.

He added the recommendations put forward by the Competition Bureau could possibly help with the price of groceries, but they would take a long time to implement.