Exclusive interview with Sarah Joyce, SVP Voila by Sobeys, Canada's newest grocery eCommerce launch

Welcome to the The Food Professor, episode No. 5 - I’m Michael LeBlanc along with Sylvain Charlebois!Glass half full &  CUSMA: who wins in the food industry/sector?Double Double tracking trouble: Tim's mobile app knows where you've been....  See: https://business.financialpost.com/technology/tim-hortons-app-tracking-customers-intimate-dataCanada's Food Price Report goes national for 2021!  Canada’s Food Price Report is going cross-country. Jointly released by long-time collaborators Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph, the 2021 project team will include the University of Saskatchewan and the University of British Columbia. “We’re going national!” says Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Senior Director at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab and the report’s lead author. “When we started this project a decade ago, we always wanted to make it fully Canadian and have institutions across the country contribute. We now have four very strong institutions joining forces. With COVID-19, it’s going to be challenging to forecast food prices this year, so we need all the help we can get.”https://www.dal.ca/sites/agri-food.html Despite being a world source of the ingredients, Canada lags on the final, value add product.  Where are we on a strategy to address this opportunityWhat ever happened to peace, love and sustainability?  The return of plastic bags - a reality for the COVID-19 era?  Sobeys and other retailers announce resumption of BYOBagWelcome to PEI, have a bag of potatoes!Our Special Guest: Sarah Joyce, Senior Vice President, Voila by Sobeys talks about the launch of Canada's newest grocery eCommerce offering, and the power of the OCADO partnership and her new team to deliver an awesome experience on the doorstep. Immigration consults, demonstrations, closed farms...COVID & Migrant Labour the issue that isn't going awayParty on the Patio: restaurants across Canada can serve customers on patios, but let's not get too excited...the industry remains in deep trouble despite this and other innovations.  Is the restaurant industry missing an opportunity for a customer expectation re-set?If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple iTunes , Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the grocery, foodservice,  or restaurant industry.    I’m Michael LeBlanc, producer and host of The Voice of Retail podcast and a bunch of other stuff, [and I’m Sylvain Charlebois,Stay Safe everyone!! About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Visiting Professor in Food Policy and Distribution at McGill University and a Professor in Food Distribution and Policy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University.Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability with over 775 published peer-reviewed journal articles. Dr. Charlebois is also an editor for the prestigious Trends in Food Science Technology journal. He co-hosts The Food Professor podcast, discussing issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries and which is the most listened Canadian management podcast in Canada. Every year since 2012, he has published the now highly anticipated Canadian Food Price Report, which provides an overview of food price trends for the coming year. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, nationally as well as internationally. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces and other countries.With extensive experience collaborating with businesses, governments, and NGOs, Dr. Charlebois combines academic rigor with practical expertise, making him one of the most influential voices in the global agri-food landscape. His work continues to advance the understanding of food systems, fostering innovation and resilience in a rapidly evolving industry. In 2025, he received the prestigious Charles III medal recognizing his tremendous work in informing Canadians about food issues. Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail, The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the National Retail Federation (NRF) as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025, and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.