Celebrating our Results-Oriented Value Champion

The Value Champion program recognizes employees who live the Company’s values every day in our stores, retail support centres and offices across the country. Our values guide our decisions and daily interactions with customers, colleagues and partners. They are us at our best and are at the very core of our business.

We couldn’t be any more proud to celebrate our 2019 regional “Results-Oriented” Value Champion that gets it done with passion and integrity, Joe Sirianni – District Operator in Calgary, Alberta.

Energy and enthusiasm radiate from Joe, a 30-year Sobeys employee whose career is rooted in years of experience in our stores. As our Results-Oriented Value Champ, Joe is always focused on driving great results in a fair way. He consistently brings a winning attitude, delivers on our shared commitments, finds new and innovative solutions, and is always fair and ethical in his decisions.

It was in Joe’s store role as Manager that he befriended a talkative older gentleman who shopped every day. “I knew him for about two years and we talked about everything,” said Joe, adding that the man often shared their conversations with his family.

When the man’s daughter informed Joe and his Assistant Manager that her father had passed away, they took the news hard and later attended his funeral, to the family’s surprise. “We wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he said. As a manager, Joe understands the importance of a can-do attitude. “I’m loud, enthusiastic and passionate – that’s what I’m about, and it rubs off,” he said.

“Teams who connect and build relationships are the key ingredients for creating a welcoming environment in stores,” Joe said. “Customers see that and feel it, and they start referring to it as ‘my store’.”

Congratulations, Joe, on an award so well-deserved. Thank you for all that you do in our stores each and every day.

Stay Heart Healthy this February

Did you know that February is Heart Month in Canada? This awareness month brings attention to the importance of heart health and the things we can to do to help reduce our risk of heart disease – like visiting one of our friendly local pharmacies to check your blood pressure.

Our Pharmacy team really takes this month “to heart” for many important reasons:

  • 9 in 10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for heart conditions, stroke or vascular cognitive impairment
  • 45% more women die of stroke than men in Canada; and because women live longer than men (on average), more women live with the effects of stroke
  • Over the past decade, there has been a 25% increase in heart failures in Canada
  • Heart disease and stroke take a life every 7 minutes in this country
    • Statistics from The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

Know your numbers!

The good news is that 80% of heart conditions are preventable. This is why we’re encouraging our customers and employees to regularly check their blood pressure at one of our Safeway pharmacy locations. Our in-store blood pressure machines make it convenient to check your blood pressure while in-store to ensure you’re within an optimal range. Plus, we offer our customers and teammates Blood Pressure Check Cards so you can record readings and review them with a health care professional, including our own team of pharmacists.

We make it easy for you to get your blood pressure in check. Help us spread the word – because whether your numbers are high or low, it’s important to know!

Committed to our customers: ScripTalk audible prescription reader now at Safeway

As we continue building an inclusive environment in our stores, we’re incredibly excited to share that ScripTalk will now be available in Safeway pharmacies across Canada.

“Scrip Talk is a breakthrough in the way we provide care to patients who struggle with low vision or anything that gets in the way of reading their prescription labels. It makes us better prepared to prevent medication errors which are unfortunately more common amongst patients who are visually impaired or have difficulty reading. We have visited numerous optometrists’ offices in and around our Safeway location to let them know we offer this service and the response from them all is overwhelmingly positive. I am looking forward to incorporating ScripTalk into our daily pharmacy practice.” Said Sheneez Virani, Staff Pharmacist, Safeway Pharmacy 8904, 111th Street & 51st Avenue, Edmonton AB. 

ScripTalk audible prescription labels enable blind, low vision or print-impaired pharmacy patients to hear important prescription label information free of charge. With ScripTalk, pharmacists code prescription labels with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification technology). Patients can then use a small, hand-held, base prescription reader called the ScripTalk Station Reader, available free of charge, to hear important prescription information and instructions read aloud.  Patients can also access talking prescription labels by using En-Vision America’s mobile app.

“We’re proud to offer ScripTalk at all of our pharmacies across the country. ScripTalk is an easy-to-use yet innovative technology that is breaking barriers for those who are blind, have experienced vision loss, or are otherwise not able to read vital prescription information,” said Jim Johnston, Vice President of Operations In-Store Pharmacy, Sobeys Inc. “With this technology, we’re empowering our patients to independently manage their medications safely at our pharmacies, in their homes, or wherever they may be.”

Speak to your local Safeway Pharmacy team for more information on how ScripTalk is another example of how we differentiate ourselves from all the other choices customers have and can help us better serve our customers every day.

Safeway: Ingredients for life

We think life can be pretty delicious. And it all comes down to the right ingredients. The right people, the right food, the right setting, and the right mindset. As part of this, we’re refreshing the Safeway brand strategy with the parts of the brand customers know and love the most, including the tagline: Ingredients for life.

As we continue to bolster our brands and create sharp edges between banners, we are excited to launch a marketing campaign to showcase the new Safeway brand identity. Safeway has been proudly serving Western Canadian families for over 90 years. With a new creative campaign we’ve combined the perfect mix of leveraging strong existing equity, and new elements, to create a distinct refreshed brand that we couldn’t be prouder of.

Safeway: Ingredients for life
Safeway has all the right ingredients to feed family bonds. So, we’re bringing this to life by bringing back a beloved tagline, Ingredients for life.

When we started to explore tagline options for Safeway, we engaged with Western Canada shoppers to get their input. ‘Ingredients for life’ rose to the top of all the options that were tested. This tagline has equity, and there is an opportunity for us to build on the strong foundation since that line was first introduced in 2004. So we are bringing it back with a new purpose – enabling Western Canadian families to bond over amazing food.

We’re also introducing quotes – an element built by taking the iconic Safeway ‘S’ to create quotes and expressions in which Safeway provides the ingredients for life. Throughout our campaign we will be leveraging quotes to express our values, beliefs, and personality to form emotional connections with Western Canadians.

The Safeway brand character is like a proud dad; someone who inspires with enthusiasm, leads with confidence and welcomes with open arms. When we talk to our customers, we want to them to feel like the Safeway brand is a real person who is there to coach and encourage them using simple language and a casual tone of voice. Throughout the creative execution you will see photographs of meaningful moments that are reflective of real life – not overly stylized or staged – with pops of red to clearly tie back to the Safeway brand.

This new creative strategy will be launched with a brand campaign across TV, social, digital, and out of home media.  Our goal is to capture the attention of family-first grocery shoppers by reintroducing ‘Ingredients for life’ and building relevance in Western Canada. Further, we will be demonstrating how we nurture family bonds, while encouraging people to engage with the Safeway brand so that we become their preferred family big shop grocery destination.

The campaign launches later today, February 6, but you can get a sneak peek of our two TV commercials by clicking here. To create local buzz and excitement, we’re also rolling out a new design across our trailer fleet and sending the Mobile Food Experience to family-focused events across Western Canada. Below are a few examples of how this will come to life in market.

What are your ‘Ingredients for life’?
We want all of our employees to be part of the campaign by inviting them to create their very own ‘Ingredients for life’ quote card to share. Visit safewayphotofilter.ca, upload a photo, choose a filter and quote, then share it with your family and friends.

We think life can be pretty delicious. And it all comes down to the right ingredients. The right people, the right food, the right setting, and the right mindset. When they all come together, the best moments with the most important people are served up for you to enjoy.

Investing in local entrepreneurs with District Ventures

Did you hear? Empire Company and our family of brands, including Safeway, has officially partnered with District Ventures to meaningfully invest in Canadian entrepreneurs.

Led by renowned entrepreneur and investor, Arlene Dickinson, District Ventures is Canada’s leading ecosystem focused on bringing capital, marketing, programming and commercialization to companies in the food, beverage and health CPG industries. District Ventures is headquartered in Calgary with an office and commercial kitchen located in Toronto.

Through this one-of-a-kind partnership, Canadian food entrepreneurs in the District Ventures Accelerator program will receive valuable support from Empire, including coaching from Local Development Managers and opportunities to bring their products to our shelves within a region or across Canada. This new partnership is a natural extension of our long-standing commitment to being the national grocer that Canadian families can count on for local food and well-being products that they have come to know and love.

“This exciting new partnership is enormous for entrepreneurs and companies in the food, beverage and health industries,” said Arlene Dickinson, CEO of District Ventures. “Since 2015, we have been committed to supporting early stage companies in these spaces. Empire’s sponsorship highlights the importance of this work and reinforces the fact that we need to support companies that both feed and nourish our communities and assist them in achieving their fullest potential.”

“Empire has a rich history of meaningfully investing in local growers and suppliers across Canada,” said Jana Sobey, Vice President of Merchandising, Thrifty Foods, Community and Field for Sobeys Inc. “Supporting local is at the heart of everything we do, and we are incredibly proud to stand side-by-side with District Ventures as we continue to nurture the countless innovative food entrepreneurs in communities large and small right across our country.” ​

Stay tuned to Safeway Talks for more exciting updates as our new partnership progresses – and don’t forget to check out the assortment of local Alberta products in your nearest Safeway store!