How changing demographics and tastes are shaping Canada’s grocery stores

As grocers work to respond to changing customer demands, specialty stores like Adonis and Asian supermarket T&T are enjoying steady growth.

It’s mid-December at a large supermarket in Mississauga, Ont., and Christmas music plays softly over the speakers as customers roam the aisles, picking the perfect lemon and eyeing the large olive counter in the middle of the store.

But this isn’t just any grocery store. Walk past the produce and the olives, and you’ll see trays of tabbouleh, hummus and fattoush, as well as shawarma cooking on rotating spits. Further, you’ll find a large dessert section with neat displays of golden baklava and other sweets. Behind two swinging doors, rows of puffed-up pita bread emerge on a conveyor belt from the oven, ready to be packaged and sold to customers.

This is Adonis, a Middle Eastern grocer that got its start in Montreal in 1978. The grocer is gearing up to open its 16th store, this one in London, Ont., next summer to meet demand from customers who often travel weekly to shop at the Mississauga location.

Specialty stores like Adonis are enjoying growth thanks to not only immigration but also the more diverse tastes of younger generations.

Regional director for Ontario Sherif El Gharbawy said Adonis is the “first stop once they land” for many newcomers to Canada — who often hear about the store before they even arrive.

“All the newcomers, this is where they start. Like this, you’re raising … a new wave of loyal customers.”

Changing customer tastes are apparent in conventional stores too, where the so-called international aisle isn’t always enough to meet demand anymore.

“I think over the past 10 years (the grocers have) really done a good job in offering culturally diverse products,” said Salima Jivraj, account director and multicultural lead at Nourish Food Marketing.