About
the Grocery Retailer Survey
This report gathers insights into
Canadian grocery retailers’:
- Positions and vacancy
numbers - Starting wages
- Recruitment efforts and
challenges - Perceptions of consumers’ priorities and considerations when grocery shopping
- Experience and perceptions regarding food prices and inflation
Introduction and Methodology
A total of 401 grocery retailers from across Canada were surveyed online, between October 11 – October 26, 2023.
The sample was targeted through Logit’s business panel of potential survey respondents. Quotas ensured data was collected from a mix of grocery retailers, convenience stores, liquor stores, and specialty stores across Canada. The data was weighted based on Statistics Canada figures for region and retailer type.
An associated margin of error for a probability-based sample of this size would be ±5%, 19 times out of 20.
Grocery retailers and food and beverage processors are two pillars of the food and beverage supply chain, with producers forming the third. All three face serious labour shortages.¹ Within this chain, grocery retailers and food and beverage processors have a lot in common with respect to the labour market. Both need workers in areas such as meat cutting, baking, food preparation, warehousing, and maintenance. More generally, they vie for unskilled and semi-skilled workers to fill production positions and jobs on the grocery store floor.
This research provides information and insights into the labour market similarities and differences between grocery retailers and food and beverage processors, including the nature of their recruitment efforts and the challenges they face. The survey of grocery retailers also asked respondents about consumer trends and priorities. These results are compared to those obtained through the survey of consumers.
Findings suggest that grocery retailers seem to have larger recruitment and retention struggles compared to food and beverage processors:
Vacancy rates in the spring to summer of 2023 for grocery retailers nationally was 27% on average, vs. 12% for food and beverage processors.
Grocery retailers have experienced higher vacancy rates, even though their average starting wage is $3 more than the average national starting wage of food and beverage processors (and goes up to as high as $30).
The higher vacancy rates at grocery retailers exist despite a higher likelihood of using temporary staffing agencies to fill positions (75% vs. 21% for food and beverage processors).
Almost 8 in 10 grocery retailers say recruitment challenges have increased between May and October 2023, compared to just 28% of food and beverage processors. The difference could, in part, be explained by the possibility that the challenges faced by grocery retailers have been relatively recent (i.e., pandemic and post-pandemic), whereas the labour market challenges of food and beverage processors are long-standing.
And while retailers report having a multitude of challenges, most processors struggle mainly with finding applicants possessing a genuine interest in the role (72%) and relevant experience (54%).
Despite the challenges felt by grocery retailers, the vast majority (8 in 10) were optimistic about the future of their business, and of the Canadian grocery retailing sector in general. Recent reports of grocery retailer profits suggest that the sector has reason for optimism.²
For their part, an almost equal proportion of food and beverage processors (7 in 10) say they are optimistic about the same things.
Many studies over the years have shown diverse teams to be smarter, more productive, and more innovative.³
This survey reveals that while grocery retailers and food and beverage processors make significant efforts to recruit a diversity of people, grocery retailers appear to be more focused on achieving this.
The same proportion of grocery retailers as food and beverage processors say they make an effort to recruit immigrants (with 7 in 10 doing so). Grocery retailers, however, place greater emphasis on recruiting people from other underutilized segments of the labour market (e.g., Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities).
Interestingly, grocery retailers are about twice as likely as food and beverage processors to say they will “not hire someone who cannot communicate effectively in English/French.”
This may reflect the fact that grocery retail employees are more likely to have to communicate with customers and play a client service role.
The survey results suggest that grocery retailers have difficulty identifying what consumers prioritize most when grocery shopping.
They say that product quality, freshness, and price are key for consumers, but they also believe that consumers place similar levels of importance on other aspects, such as product origin, ethical production, and traceability.
The consumer survey, in contrast, indicates that consumers are much more likely to accord importance to product quality, freshness, and price, while other product attributes form second and third tiers of importance.
There are other disconnects in the views of grocery retailers and consumers. A strong majority of retailers believe Canadian food and beverage processors are the best in the world, compared to only 30% of consumers who share this view.
The most glaring difference pertains to food inflation, where 8 in 10 grocery retailers think food inflation is slowing down, compared to just 11% of consumers who think so.
Labour Market Challenges and Strategies
Number of Positions and Vacancies
Starting Wage
Other indicators suggest that grocery retailers are facing more significant labour market challenges. A much higher proportion of them say recruitment challenges have increased since May 2023 (76%), compared to food and beverage processors (28%).
Similarly, almost 8 in 10 grocery retailers say it’s getting more challenging to hire (77%) and retain (78%) people, compared to about 6 in 10 food and beverage processors who say this.
While retailers report having a multitude of challenges, processors struggle most with finding applicants with a genuine interest in the role (72%) and relevant experience (54%).
The surveys reveal that supply chain issues have also been a challenge for most grocery retailers and half of food and beverage processors.
Notwithstanding their apparent labour market and supply chain struggles, 8 in 10 grocery retailers say they are optimistic about the future of their business and industry. A similar proportion (7 in 10) of processors feel optimistic.
Recruitment Challenges
Reasons for Recruitment Challenges
Business Outlook & The Future
Workforce Diversity
There are many studies that find diverse teams to be smarter, better, and more innovative, as diverse teams may be more likely to challenge “stale” ways of thinking.⁵
When it comes to recruitment of immigrants and equity-deserving people, grocery retailers and food and beverage processors place similar levels of emphasis on recruiting recent immigrants, but grocery retailers make a stronger effort to recruit the following:
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International skilled workers (73% vs. 54% of food and beverage processors)
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Indigenous peoples (68% vs. 41%)
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Workers over 50 years old (47% vs. 23%)
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Persons with disabilities (64% vs. 36%)
Grocery retailers are much more likely to say they would not hire applicants who cannot communicate effectively in English or French (78% vs. 41% of food and beverage processors). This gap may be explained by the fact that grocery store staff are more apt to have to speak with customers.
5 https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarterRecruitment of Immigrants & Equity-deserving People
Diversity of the Workforce and Hiring
Grocery Retailers’ Knowledge of Customers
According to grocery retailers, their customers pay attention to product labels and certifications, and many ask questions about locally produced food and beverage products.
While grocery retailers correctly identify the three most important product attributes for consumers (i.e., product quality, freshness, and price according to the consumer survey), they are also likely to overestimate the importance of all other attributes (e.g., product inspection, convenience, sustainability, ethical production).
Perceived Consumer Preferences
Importance of Product Attributes
One of the key findings from the consumer survey is that relatively few respondents (22%) say they are “confused” about what the term “organic” means. The survey of grocery retailers corroborates this, with only 14% believing consumers are confused about the meaning of organic. Retailers and consumers are also likeminded on the salience to shoppers of detailed nutritional information on products.
In terms of disconnects, retailers overestimate the significance to consumers of several product attributes— notably the desire to try new and innovative food and beverage products, and the salience of eco-friendly packaging. Another large delta pertains to the differing views consumers and retailers have about the global excellence of Canadian food and beverage processors, with retailers being much more enthusiastic.
The most obvious difference pertains to food inflation, where 8 in 10 grocery retailers think food inflation is slowing down, compared to just 11% of consumers.
Perceptions About Consumers
These findings on Canadian grocery retailers, their recruitment and retention experiences, and perceptions of consumer preferences and priorities hold some insights for food and beverage processors. Specifically, the results have the following implications:
1. Compared to food and beverage processors, grocery retailers appear to be facing more significant labour market-related challenges, despite their higher starting wages and a willingness to turn to temporary staffing agencies to fill positions. These findings paint a sobering picture of what the competition for workers looks like from a perspective that is outside of the food and beverage sector, but very close to it in several important ways.
2. Both food and beverage processors and grocery retailers make significant efforts to hire workers from equity-deserving groups. Retailers are less likely to consider hiring someone who cannot communicate effectively in English/French, possibly because grocery store workers are more likely to have to deal with customers. As Canada’s immigration and refugee acceptance numbers continue to grow, there is opportunity for food and beverage processors to lean into their existing strength of focusing on the portion of the labour market for whom English/French is not a primary, or even secondary, language (e.g., through the development of specialized programs).
3. Large food and beverage processors conduct in-depth consumer research, but smaller producers may not have the resources and/or expertise to do this, instead relying on the feedback of the retailers they supply. The research findings suggest that some grocery retailers may not have a tight grasp of consumer preferences and priorities, however, thus highlighting the need for all processors, regardless of size, to have some direct knowledge of current consumer tastes and preferences (e.g., around packaging).
Pat Beauchamp
Senior Vice President, Data + Analytics
Pat.Beauchamp@hillandknowlton.comJennifer Cao
Manager, Data + Analytics
Jennifer.Cao@hillandknowlton.com
