STELLARTON, NS – Empire Company Limited (“Empire” or the “Company”) (TSX: EMP.A) today announced that its fourth e-commerce customer fulfilment centre (“CFC”) will be located in the Greater Vancouver Area of British Columbia.
Voilà will launch its online grocery home delivery service for customers in British Columbia in 2025. The CFC will benefit from new technology announced by Ocado which comes with more efficiencies and a lighter environmental and carbon footprint. For example, the new generation bots are five times lighter and require less energy and power to achieve the same throughput as the previous generation. Ocado has recently announced a range of innovations, which will be available for Empire to consider in future CFC automation and efficiency improvements.
“Ocado’s central fulfillment and home delivery model is proving to be the most efficient on the market while delivering the best customer experience,” said Sarah Joyce, SVP, E-commerce, Empire. “Ocado’s recent innovations are making it even more efficient and sustainable – both for our business and the planet. Their commitment to ongoing innovation is one of the reasons we decided to partner with them. With CFCs in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, we will reach 75 per cent of Canadian households and approximately 90 per cent of grocery e-commerce spend. We strongly believe that central fulfillment is the most profitable solution at scale, and that Voilà will be the top e-commerce grocery retailer in Canada.”
The Company will lease the facility from Beedie, a third-party industrial developer based in Western Canada, who will build the site to Empire’s specifications.
Forward-Looking Information
This document contains forward-looking statements which are presented for the purpose of assisting the reader to contextualize the Company’s financial position and understand management’s expectations regarding the Company’s strategic priorities, objectives and plans. These forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are identified by words or phrases such as “anticipates”, “expects”, “believes”, “estimates”, “intends”, “could”, “may”, “plans”, “predicts”, “projects”, “will”, “would”, “foresees” and other similar expressions or the negative of these terms.
These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company’s expectations regarding the timing relating to the completion of the fourth CFC in B.C. which may be impacted by supply of materials and equipment, permit and construction schedules and performance of construction contractors.
By its nature, forward-looking information requires the Company to make assumptions and is subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made. For more information on risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may impact the Company’s forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company’s materials filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the “Risk Management” section of the fiscal 2021 annual MD&A.
Although the Company believes the predictions, forecasts, expectations or conclusions reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that such matters will prove correct. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this document reflects the Company’s current expectations and is subject to change. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made by or on behalf of the Company other than as required by applicable securities laws.
ABOUT EMPIRE
Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc., and related real estate. With approximately $28.9 billion in annual sales and $16.0 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 134,000 people.
Additional financial information relating to Empire, including the Company’s Annual Information Form, can be found on the Company’s website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
