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September 30, 2014
GROCERY CHAIN TO EXPAND TO 17 SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO STORES
LONDON FREE PRESS
Hank Daniszewski

Only months after opening its first store in London, Ottawa-based Farm Boy is sprouting two new stores here next year.

The fresh food chain will open a store next March in a retail plaza in the Masonville area and has begun building a store on Beaverbrook Ave., next to the Rona home improvement store, which should open in May.

Farm Boy chief executive Jeff York said the company's Wellington Rd. store, its first in Southwestern Ontario, has done well since it opened in June and the city is seen as a growth market.

"Nobody in London is doing what we are doing. There's a huge void in the market," York said.

The two new stores will each have about 135 employees.

York said the chain plans to open another six stores in Southwestern Ontario and is looking at locations in Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Cambridge.

York also announced Farm Boy is donating $25,000 to the London Health Sciences Foundation for nutrition education.

Unlike major supermarkets, Farm Boy doesn't carry non-food items.

The chain has 15 stores. It specializes in fresh produce and hot and cold prepared foods and caters to the local food trend, carrying products from 40 London- area companies.

Tuesday, the Wellington Rd. store held a local vendor fair, featuring companies such as Fire Roasted Coffee, Kosuma Foods and Coppa di Gelato.

Coppa di Gelato is a family company founded 12 years ago and now has a 6,000-sq.-ft. plant in Strathroy that uses local ingredients to make Italian-style ice cream. Owner Jeff Swann said small food producers find it difficult to distribute through major grocery chains but Farm Boy's local focus has given his company a welcome boost.

"With a company that's focused on local and fresh, we fit right in," Swann said.

Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) also has found a big market for its food products, produced as a youth job-training program. Executive director Steve Cordes said two YOU products — pumpkin butter and peach salsa — were among the top five grocery items sold at the London Farm Boy store.

hank.daniszewski@sunmedia.ca
twitter.com/HankatLFPress


THE COMPANY

  • Farm Boy focuses on fresh produce and meats, natural and organic foods, artisan cheese and its private label.
  • Founded in Cornwall about 30 years ago.
  • Started as a small produce store operated by husband and wife Jean-Louis and Collette Bellemare.
  • Based in Ottawa, 14 stores in that city, one in Kingston, one in Cornwall.
  • Named one of Canada's best-managed companies.
  • First London store opened on Wellington Rd. in June. Two more stores to open next year.






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