If your U.S. company is considering selling food products inCanada, it’s important to understand how products move through the Canadian marketplace. Imported food items can reach Canadian retailers either directly or via a network of importers, brokers, distributors, and wholesalers. For convenience store buyers and smaller grocery chains, wholesalers often play a key role in supplying products. In fact, many wholesalers are subsidiaries of major grocery retailers, allowing them to distribute products efficiently to smaller outlets across the country. For example, Loblaw Companies Ltd.,Canada’s largest food retailer, supplies more than 1,500 non-affiliated stores through its own distribution centres.

The Canadian food retail sector is highly consolidated. Over the past two decades, mergers and acquisitions have reduced the number of major retailers to just three dominant players. Loblaw Companies Ltd. leads the market with about 29% share, followed by Sobeys Inc., the second largest retailer with a strong national footprint. Metro Inc. ranks third, operating stores primarily in Ontario and Quebec. Together, these companies control over70% of Canada’s grocery retail market.

For U.S. businesses, understanding these distribution channels and the concentration of market power among a few major players is crucial for successful entry and growth in the Canadian food retail industry.Building relationships with these top retailers or their wholesale subsidiaries can open doors to a broad market reach, whether you’re targeting large supermarket chains or independent convenience stores.

Canadian Food Retailers –Estimated Sales 2024 (Retail Food Sales)

*Estimated sales based on reported gross revenue

Source: Statista 2024 Retail Food in Canada, Retail Insider & Corporate Filings