The FEED powered by Loblaw

Cherilyn left her hometown intending never to come back. Answering questions about food from people who had never set foot on a farm showed her she could explain agriculture in a language people understand, and led her into advocacy and policy work. And back to the farm. Recorded at the tail end of harvest, after a day in the fields with host Michael LeBlanc, the conversation traces how her crops...

How is Loblaw using AI, loyalty data and retail media to adapt to the way Canadians shop for groceries? Lauren Steinberg, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Loblaw Companies Limited, joins host Michael LeBlanc at Loblaw Digital's downtown Toronto offices. This century-old heritage building now houses one of the most modern parts of the business. Lauren has spent more than 13 yea...

In this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw, host Michael LeBlanc sits down with Shantelle Rhynold, Executive Director of President's Choice Children's Charity, for an inspiring conversation about addressing child food insecurity in Canada and how school food programs help kids learn, grow, and thrive. Recorded live at Loblaw's head office, this episode explores how a national team of just nine...

The Myth that stores were going to go away and be replaced by eCommerce was just that: a myth.  Nobody knows that better than the person leading the team that built thousands of them. Recorded live at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit, Michael LeBlanc sits down with Sharla Paraskevopoulos, Senior Vice President, Real Estate at Loblaw Companies Limited, for a fast-paced, candid look at h...

Recorded live at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit in Toronto, Michael LeBlanc sits down with Dr. Isabelle Huot, Doctor of Nutrition and founder of Isabelle Huot Docteure en nutrition — for her very first English-language podcast interview. A household name in Quebec after two decades on television, radio, and in the pages of the Journal de Montréal, Isabelle has written 19 books, sold more...

Irene Doody, Senior Vice President, Joe Fresh at Loblaw Companies Limited, joins Michael LeBlanc on The FEED powered by Loblaw podcast for a conversation recorded live and in person at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit, where close to 2,500 suppliers and Loblaw leaders gathered at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre around partnership, value, innovation and trust. Joe Fresh turns 20 this yea...

Recorded live and in person at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit, this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw brings you Joe Spano, Managing Partner and Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Mucci Farms — one of North America's most deeply vertically integrated greenhouse growers. Mucci Farms began as a small family farm in Kingsville, Ontario in the early 1960s, founded by Tony and Gino M...

There's a trophy on the table between us when this conversation starts, and that's the right place to begin. Recorded live and in person on stage at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit — the day at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre that brought close to 2,500 suppliers and Loblaw leaders together around partnership, value, innovation and trust — this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw fea...

Recorded live and in person at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit, where nearly 2,500 suppliers and Loblaw leaders filled the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Rohit Sriram, Senior Vice President, eCommerce and Loyalty at Loblaw Digital, joins Michael LeBlanc on The FEED powered by Loblaw for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of Canadian online shopping and where it goes next. Rohit ove...

Recorded on location at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit — which brought nearly 2,500 suppliers and Loblaw leaders to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre around partnership, value, innovation and trust — this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw finds host Michael LeBlanc sitting down with Jonathan Carroll, Senior Vice President, Real Canadian Superstore Operations, to explore where food w...

The FEED powered by Loblaw goes live from the grand opening of T&T Supermarket's first California store, where host Michael LeBlanc sits down with Tina Lee, CEO of T&T Supermarket, in front of a packed crowd at Westgate Centre in San Jose. Tina Lee's story is as much personal as it is professional. Born in Vancouver, B.C., she was just 13 when her parents, Jack and Cindy Lee, opened the first T&T...

On this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , host Michael LeBlanc travels to Vancouver for a remarkable conversation with David Long, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank , about reimagining what a modern food bank can—and should—be. Forget everything you think you know about food banks. Under David's leadership, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank has transformed from a traditional emergency foo...

On this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw podcast, host Michael LeBlanc travels to Vancouver to sit down with Paul Gill, Founder & CEO of Naked & Saucy, for a fascinating conversation about food entrepreneurship, innovation, retail growth, and what it really takes to build a successful consumer packaged goods brand in today’s competitive grocery industry. Paul shares the remarkable story behin...

On this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , host Michael LeBlanc travels to West Vancouver to sit down with Patrice Mousseau, Founder and CEO of Satya Organics , for an inspiring conversation about entrepreneurship, innovation, Indigenous business leadership, and building a purpose-driven consumer brand. Patrice's journey is anything but conventional. A former journalist, broadcaster, and nati...

On this episode of The Feed Powered by Loblaw, host Michael LeBlanc sits down with former Bank of Canada Governor and renowned economist Steve Poloz for a timely and wide-ranging conversation about the forces reshaping Canada's economy. Drawing on insights from his influential book The Next Age of Uncertainty , Poloz reflects on how many of the disruptions he anticipated have accelerated far faste...

In this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , recorded in North Vancouver, host Michael LeBlanc sits down with Fardad Moayeri, Principal - Chief Esthetics Officer, Parissa Laboratories Inc., to explore a classic Canadian entrepreneurial journey—from immigrant startup to globally recognized natural beauty brand. Parissa Laboratories, now approaching 43 years in business, began out of necessity. M...

In this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , recorded live at Granville Island in Vancouver, host Michael LeBlanc sits down with Chris Hobson, Founder of Hobbs Pickles, to explore how a creative professional transformed a personal obsession into one of Canada’s most distinctive emerging food brands. Chris didn’t set out to disrupt the pickle category—but after years in advertising and a deep pa...

In this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , recorded at the iconic Maple Leaf Gardens flagship store in Toronto, Michael LeBlanc sits down with Enza Cianciotta, Founder of Solenzi Food, to explore the intersection of food innovation, entrepreneurship, and the evolving Canadian grocery landscape. Enza’s journey into the food industry is anything but traditional. After spending more than 30 year...

In this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , host Michael LeBlanc explores the remarkable entrepreneurial journey behind The Handpie Company, one of Canada’s most distinctive emerging food brands, with founder Sarah Bennetto O’Brien. Recorded at the historic Loblaws Maple Leaf Gardens store in Toronto , the conversation explores how a classically trained chef from Sudbury, Ontario, built a thri...

Recorded live inside a Real Canadian Superstore in Port Coquitlam, this episode of The FEED Powered by Loblaw features an in-depth conversation with Stewart Samuel , Director of Retail Futures at IGD . Together, we explore the future of grocery retail, AI-driven commerce, hypermarket reinvention, and the evolving expectations of Canadian shoppers. Stewart leads IGD’s global insights and foresight...

Some of the most remarkable food stories in Canada do not begin in corporate boardrooms—they begin on farms, with families deeply committed to quality. In this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , host Michael LeBlanc sits down with John Miller and Marie Miller, co-owners of Miller’s Dairy , recorded live at the Maple Leaf Gardens Loblaws flagship store. Miller’s Dairy is a multi-generational O...

In this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , host Michael LeBlanc sits down with Chad Jakeman, Chief Executive Officer of Jakeman’s Maple Syrup Products , to explore how one of Canada’s most iconic food products is being scaled for modern retail—without losing its heritage. Jakeman’s is a 150-year-old, family-owned Ontario business that now funnels more than half of the province’s maple syrup t...

Greetings and welcome to season two of The FEED, powered by Loblaw podcast!    We conceived of The FEED as an opportunity to showcase thought leaders, taste makers, innovative brands and leaders, who are making a difference in the grocery and health industries and helping Canadians Live Life Well. We’re off to a great start, wrapping Season one and 2025 with a powerful interview with Benjamin Tal,...

In this wide-ranging and insightful conversation, Benjamin Tal, Deputy Chief Economist at CIBC, joins Michael LeBlanc to close out Season One of The FEED powered by Loblaw with a clear assessment of where Canada’s economy truly stands—and where it is headed. Tal opens by reframing the post-pandemic narrative. While Canada avoided a formal recession, he characterizes the economy as “resilient, not...

Autonomous vehicles have long been promised as the future of logistics, but in this episode of The FEED powered by Loblaw , that future arrives decisively in Canada. Host Michael LeBlanc sits down with Rich Steiner, Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs at Gatik , to explore how Loblaw and Gatik are launching Canada’s first fully autonomous, commercial middle-mile delivery oper...