Canadian Retailer - Summer 2016 - 23

been much more interest in targeting the growth of these
people," adds Sharifa Khan, founder of Balmoral Multicultural
Marketing. "People who are contributing to an annual consumption power of $42 billion. If you want to have more share of wallet, if you want to grow your business, you can no longer market
yourself just in the two official languages-English and French.
You'd be totally missing the boat. If you haven't thought about
that, it's time you started thinking about it."
Variety, Value, Vah!

in the country. When it comes to immigration,
Ontario already leads the pack amongst Canadian provinces (STATSCAN estimates that by
2030, 40 per cent of Ontario's population will
be a visible minority), and with its high percentage of South Asian consumers, Brampton has
proved the perfect staging ground for what may
be the first of many locations. While in years
past, the grocery chains opted for a uniform
look and feel, Chalo! FreshCo, T&T, and Marche
Adonis have instead adopted a highly targeted
approach, allowing their clientele's diverse
backgrounds to inform not just the marketing
and products, but specific language (the last
word of Chalo's store's motto-"Variety, Value,
Vah"-roughly translates to "fun"), and even design elements found in-store.

It's no secret that the Canadian consumer is changing. Canada
has the highest foreign-born population of any G8 Country, and
according to STATSCAN research, more than two-thirds of our
population growth in recent years was the result of in-migration.
Visible minorities account for 30 per cent of Ontario's population,
and by 2030, the agency predicts, 27 per cent of all Canadians-
roughly one in every four-will be international immigrants.
"We see multiculturalism growing very quickly in Canada," notes Rob Adams, VP of Discount
Formats with Canadian grocery retailer Sobeys,
"specifically here in Ontario. It's growing faster
than a lot of other regions. Immigration is fuelling a lot of the growth in Canada, and we feel
that, as a food business, we want to be there to
cater to those families coming to Canada. And
not only them, but second and third generation
families as well."
In the city of Brampton, ON., Sobeys approach is already bearing fruit. After more than
a century in business, the country's second-largest grocery retailer unveiled Chalo! Freshco
in August of 2015, its first location branded and
marketed directly to the South Asian consumer.
Where, in previous years, Canadian companies
across the spectrum may have been content
"Most often now, corporate marketers will have both a
to fold multicultural consumers into the general market, the sector's explosive growth has mainstream agency and a multicultural agency, and have
made it a focal point for marketers, retailers, them both at the table at the same time, as opposed to
and brand strategists. Chalo's development was being just an afterthought. It still happens, but there's
guided by a massive qualitative and quantita- an increased understanding now that it's not enough to
tive research campaign, as Sobeys worked with
just formulate a concept for the mainstream. You need to
vendor partners and experts on South Asian
markets to decide how best to serve the com- work together, and create a concept that will be able to
apply across the various ethnic communities."
munity's specific needs.
"Rather than going out and buying somebody,
- SHARIFA KHAN, Balmoral Multicultural Marketing
we thought we could better serve our community by coming up with a concept and operating it ourselves," Ad"It's not just about putting all these little stores
ams explains. "The South Asian demographic was very attract- together under one roof," says Lee. "The shopive, both because of its size and its growth. And nobody has really ping experience at T&T has continued to evolve.
served that community with their own one-stop shop, the way We have a really strong prepared foods section,
we're trying to. We're really excited about the opportunity."
we have a seating area, we have steamed buns
And it's not just Brampton; in Canada, South Asian consumers in-store, fresh noodles in-store, and a daily, fresh
make up 25 per cent of the total visible minority population- bakery-all in a clean, appealing environment. I
even outpacing Chinese immigrants, who clock in at 21 per think we've raised the bar, and everybody else
cent-and are currently the fastest growing minority population has had to elevate their game."
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