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Sobeys launches Voilà online grocery delivery in Ottawa

Ocado-powered e-commerce service extends reach in Ontario, Quebec

Russell Redman

April 11, 2022

3 Min Read
Sobeys Voila home delivery launch-Ottawa.jpg
Sobeys said Ottawans can now order from thousands of grocery products, including items from the retailer’s Farm Boy store banner, and have them delivered within an hour.Sobeys

Canadian grocer Sobeys has expanded its Voilà online grocery delivery service to the Ottawa area.

Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based Sobeys said Monday that Ottawa residents can now order from thousands of grocery products, including items from the retailer’s Farm Boy store banner, and have them delivered to their homes within an hour. Customers access the Voilà by Sobeys service online at voila.ca or via the Voilà mobile app and choose their one-hour delivery time window.

The Ottawa launch comes about three weeks after Sobeys rolled out Voilà par IGA home delivery in Quebec, serving more than 100 communities from Gatineau to Montreal to Quebec City from an assortment of up to 39,000 products. Voilà delivery began in the metropolitan Toronto in June 2020 and is now available in Ontario, including the greater Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa areas, and in Quebec, in the greater Montreal and Quebec City areas.

Sobeys Voila home delivery-Ottawa.jpg

Overall, Voilà home delivery is now available in Ontario — including the greater Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa areas — and in Quebec, in the greater Montreal and Quebec City areas.

“Canadians are craving a better online grocery home-delivery option. Voilà is winning customers in the greater Toronto area and Quebec, and we are now thrilled to be serving the Ottawa market," Sarah Joyce, senior vice president of e-commerce at Empire Company Ltd., Sobeys’ parent company. “We know that customers will also be excited to order many of the iconic Farm Boy products they love, alongside fresh and grocery items from Sobeys, ready-made meal solutions from [restaurateur] Oliver & Bonacini, and more — all in one place and delivered straight to their door.”

Related:Sobeys kicks off Voilà par IGA home delivery in Quebec

Sobeys noted that the Voilà by Sobeys service includes a “fresh or it’s free” guarantee. The Voilà website and app track inventory in real time to give customers reliable visibility into available items, and an automated warehouse uses robots to pick orders that associates deliver in temperature-controlled vehicles, ensuring fast, accurate delivery and fresh product, the retailer said.

Voilà home delivery service is powered by automated customer fulfillment centers (CFCs) that Sobeys is developing under a partnership with United Kingdom-based Ocado Group. The first CFC opened in Vaughan, Ontario, in June 2020 with the launch of Voilà in the Toronto area, followed by the opening of a second facility in Pointe-Claire, Montreal, this past March to support the Voilà service in Quebec and Ottawa. In Western Canada, plans call for a third Ocado CFC to go operational in Calgary, Alberta, in the first half of calendar 2023 and another CFC to open in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2025.

“In a world where people are increasingly strapped for time, grocery home delivery provides an incredible convenience,” Joyce added. “Customers can rely on Voilà by Sobeys because of our freshness guarantee and our 99% product accuracy, not to mention our delivery teammates, who provide exceptional service that our customers instantly fall in love with. Ottawa customers deserve this first-class service.”

Related:Sobeys names Vancouver as next Ocado e-commerce fulfillment site

In Ontario, Sobeys Inc. has more than 330 stores under the banners Sobeys, Safeway, Foodland, FreshCo and Price Chopper. Empire’s food retail network, operated via its Sobeys subsidiary, includes over 1,900 food, drug and convenience stores in all 10 provinces under banners such banners as Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Farm Boy and Lawtons Drugs. The retailer also operates more than 350 retail fuel stations and runs grocery e-commerce operations under the Voilà, Grocery Gateway, IGA.net and ThriftyFoods.com banners.

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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