Sponsored By

Sobeys names Vancouver as next Ocado e-commerce fulfillment site

Fourth automated facility to begin Voilà grocery delivery in three years

Russell Redman

February 11, 2022

3 Min Read
Sobeys_Voila_grocery_delivery_associate-Ocado.jpg
Sobeys has one Ocado customer fulfillment center in operation in Vaughan, Ontario, processing Voilà delivery orders and plans two CFCs in Montreal and Calgary.Ocado

Sobeys parent Empire Company Ltd. aims to launch its Voilà online grocery delivery service in a third province, British Columbia, in 2025.

To that end, Empire this week unveiled plans to construct an Ocado-automated customer fulfillment center (CFC) in the greater Vancouver area to fill online grocery orders. The Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based company didn’t specify the location but said it will lease the facility from Beedie, a third-party industrial developer based in Western Canada, which will build the site to Empire’s specifications.

The platform from U.K.-based Ocado Group employs a centralized fulfillment model of large facilities that use high degree of automation — including vertical integration, machine learning and robotics — to accommodate a huge assortment of products and serve a wide geographical area. For Empire, Ocado’s solution positions each CFC as a “hub” serving area stores and supporting facilities handling online orders.

Empire noted that the upcoming Vancouver CFC will benefit from new Ocado technology that brings more efficiencies and a lighter environmental and carbon footprint. For example, the bots ferrying items for online orders are five times lighter and require less energy and power to achieve the same throughput as the previous generation. Sobeys announced its partnership with Ocado in 2018.

Related:Sobeys builds on pandemic gains in second quarter

“Ocado’s central fulfillment and home delivery model is proving to be the most efficient on the market while delivering the best customer experience,” Sarah Joyce, senior vice president of e-commerce at Empire, said in a statement. “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.”

The Vancouver CFC marks the fourth announced by Empire. Voilà service launched in June 2020 in the greater Toronto area, powered by an Ocado CFC in Vaughan, Ontario, which went into operation that month. Empire has accelerated plans to build three more CFCs. They include a second CFC in Pointe-Claire, Montreal, to support the Voilà par IGA home delivery service in Ottawa and cities in Quebec, which is expected to go into operation in the spring of 2022. Empire has said it plans to build two more CFCs in Western Canada, including in Calgary, Alberta — slated to begin delivering to customers in the first half of calendar 2023 — and now in Vancouver.

Currently, Voilà home delivery service is available in Ontario, in the greater Toronto and Hamilton areas, and in Quebec, in greater Montreal and Quebec City.

Related:Sobeys parent Empire names Matt Reindel as chief financial officer

“With CFCs in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, we will reach 75% of Canadian households and approximately 90% of grocery e-commerce spend,” according to Joyce. “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.”

In fiscal 2021, Empire launched Voilà Curbside Pickup at 30 stores in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland/Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Alberta, and the service has since expanded to British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Empire added 30 pickup sites in the 2022 second quarter ended Oct. 30 and plans to add up to 35 more locations in the rest of the fiscal year.

Powered by Ocado’s store-pick solution, the click-and-collect program is designed to serve customers in areas where CFCs don’t deliver or aren’t yet built. The service is now available at 87 Sobeys and Safeway stores in all provinces except Quebec.

Empire’s food retail network, operated via its Sobeys subsidiary, includes more than 1,900 food, drug and convenience stores in all 10 provinces under banners such as Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Farm Boy and Lawtons Drugs.

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

Stay up-to-date on the latest food retail news and trends
Subscribe to free eNewsletters from Supermarket News

You May Also Like