Loblaw Looks To Satisfy Foreign Food Appetite With Arz Acquisition

Loblaw Cos. Ltd., which acquired Canada’s premier Asian supermarket chain T&T in 2009, is pushing further into the fast-growing New Canadian market by snapping up a Middle Eastern food specialist.

The country’s largest grocer is expected to unveil this week it is acquiring Arz Fine Foods, which runs a Toronto-based grocery store and bakery. Loblaw is betting that it can expand the Arz standalone retail business in Canada and stock Arz products – ranging from pita breads to baklava and manaeesh – in its mainstream supermarkets in the battle for the multicultural customer.

“It gives us the same kind of opportunity we’ve had with T&T to really accelerate our pursuit of that business and that very important customer demographic,” Chris Fisher, Loblaw’s vice-president in charge of multicultural matters, said in an interview.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Globe and Mail