The grocery chain that is the pride of Pictou County, where it was founded and still has its headquarters, was bursting with a pride of its own on Thursday.
Sobeys Inc. of Stellarton, a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire Co. Ltd., the parent company controlled by the founding Sobey family, was eager to point out to everyone that it had been named one of the most admired companies in Canada and tops in the groceries–convenience sector in the 2018 Leger Corporate Reputation Study.
“Moving up 10 positions is a huge vote of confidence from our customers,” Michael Medline, president and CEO of Empire and Sobeys, said in a company news release. “I am proud of my 125,000 teammates from across the country. Thanks to their hard work and dedication, we have earned the top ranking in the grocery–convenience store category in the Atlantic, Quebec, the Prairies, and Alberta.”
According to the Leger company, the reputationalsurvey also lists Sobeys as the sector championfor honesty and transparency. The grocer is ranked above the sector average for all other reputation components, including
financial success, good corporate citizenship, quality of products, services and innovation, Leger indicated in the news statement.
Leger is Canada’s largest polling and research firm. It surveys companies with presence in all Canadian regions as part of the Canadian ranking. This year’s study marks the 21st edition of the Leger study that ranks corporate reputations yearly. Leger conducted 28,332 interviews within the scope of this reputation study and each company was assessed by about 2,100 respondents.
“The grocery industry has seen declining reputation scores over the past few years but Sobeys has been able to show an increase this year that is significant,” Jean-Marc Léger, president of Leger was quoted in the news release. “Moving 10 positions from one year to the next is a great accomplishment; however, Sobeys will have to continue to engage with Canadians to ensure their ranking continues to climb.”
When asked if the bread pricefixing scandal may have had a negative impact on its main Canadian competitor Loblaw, Sobeys declined to answer directly. In an email, a company spokeswoman simply stated its customers have always been the focus of its business.
Following the acquisition
of Canada Safeway several years ago, Sobeys had experienced some growing pains during thetransition. Some of the harshest critics were Safeway customers who were happy with the way the stores had been managed by the then U.S. ownership.
In the same email, the Sobeys representative indicated: “An area of focus for us to improve our performance is in Western Canada. There are many things we continue to work on to improve the consistency of the customer experience in store. One example is our in-stock position; we’ve made great improvements in this area. We’ve also been listening to what our customers need, which led to our announcement of expanding our FreshCo discount format into the West and work is in progress to open our first stores this year.”
She concluded the email by saying the strong showing in the Leger survey is an indication that the company is on the right track.
-ROGER TAYLOR
