Maple Leaf hopes protein craze will help drive comeback for Yves Veggie brand

MISSISSAUGA - Aromas of Mexican-inspired salad with veggie ground meat and paninis with vegetarian bologna and ham filled the room as the chef assembled everyday recipes with Yves Veggie Cuisine products.

A year ago, that wouldn't have been possible. Yves was discontinued after 40 years as consumer demand plummeted.

Now, six Yves products are making a comeback under Maple Leaf Foods. The company officially reintroduced three versions of ground round, which mimics ground beef, and soy-based bologna, ham and turkey deli slices during a tasting event at its Mississauga, Ont., headquarters on Wednesday.  

Yves products slowly started returning to some grocery store shelves earlier this month.

What’s up: Wine fest, Pulp, Prohibition Party, Teddy Bears’ Picnic, Savant Flâneur, Osani album release

Winnipeg Wine FestivalRBC Convention Centre, 375 York Ave.Friday, 7-10 p.m. and Saturday, 1-4 p.m. and 7-10 p.m.Tickets from $88 hereBig, hearty red wines take centre stage at the RBC Convention Centre this weekend, as the Winnipeg Wine Festival returns with the theme “Life is a Cabernet.”

Three sessions over two days will see hundreds of wines being popped and poured for thousands of thirsty Winnipeggers at the public tastings, with around 60 Cabernet Sauvignons available to be sampled alongside other reds as well as bubblies, rosés, white wines and more.

As well as tried-and-true favourites, there will be plenty of products (Cabernet Sauvignon and otherwise) that are new to the province and/or exclusive to the festival from Italy, Chile, Australia, Germany, France and beyond, with a handful of export managers and winemakers on hand to talk about the wines and answer questions about featured products.

Beyond wine, the fest will feature a Drink Sense non-alcoholic booth, a bistro, a silent disco, a Malibu Pink booth and other fun surprises. And for those who discover a new favourite or two, the festival again features an on-site Liquor Mart. (Of note: unlike last year’s Winnipeg Wine Festival, the city’s eight private wine stores are not participating.)

Competition Bureau, Empire reach deal on grocer’s property control commitments

OTTAWA - The competition watchdog says Sobeys' parent company Empire Co. Ltd. has formalized its commitment to winding down property controls, which can limit rival grocers from setting up shop nearby.

The Competition Bureau said Tuesday the grocer has agreed to officially stop using so-called restrictive covenants, which many retailers have used to prevent rivals from opening a store on their former site after moving away.

Empire is the parent company of multiple grocery banners including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland and FreshCo.

Under a consent agreement registered with the Competition Tribunal, Empire will no longer use or enforce land restrictions. It will also limit its use of exclusivity clauses, which prohibit landlords from leasing space to another tenant that competes with an existing tenant.

Cabernet Sauvignon star of wine festival

The Winnipeg Wine Festival will celebrate the king of red wine grapes next weekend — the theme of this year’s festival, which takes place Sept. 25 and 26 at the RBC Convention Centre, is Cabernet Sauvignon.

Tim Hortons ‘flight roast’ coming to WestJet flights, companies link loyalty programs

TORONTO - Tim Hortons' coffee is cleared for takeoff.

As Canadian brands increasingly search for ways to differentiate themselves in a crowded retail marketplace, the café giant is teaming up with WestJet.

Starting Nov. 30, a special in-flight brew from the café giant will be available on board the airline's flights as part of a partnership between the two brands that will later include a loyalty program collaboration.

Dubbed the "flight roast," Tim Hortons says the coffee features a unique blend specifically designed for passengers' tastebuds at high altitudes. Hope Bagozzi, Tims' chief marketing officer, called it distinct from the original and dark roast blends that customers are used to drinking at its restaurants.

Weight-loss drugs shaping up to be a boon for grocers’ pharmacy units

While discount stores have been a bright spot recently for major grocery chains, other units within their empires have been quietly seeing a sales boom: their pharmacies.

And it's largely coming from rising sales of weight-loss drugs. 

The popularity of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs, traditionally used to manage Type 2 diabetes, has exploded in recent years thanks to their weight-loss side effects. And as cheaper, generic versions become more widely available, uptake is only expected to rise further.   

‘It’s too early’: Grocer Empire refusing supplier requests for tariff price hikes

Fewer food items are seeing price increases related to tariffs despite the escalating trade dispute between Canada and the United States, executives from grocery chain Empire Co. Ltd. say. 

"It is minimal impact on our business this time around," chief customer officer Luc L'Archevêque told analysts during the company's fiscal first-quarter earnings call on Thursday.

While the grocery retailer — whose banners include Sobeys, Safeway, FreshCo and Farm Boy — received a handful of requests from suppliers to raise prices, L'Archevêque said it hasn't accepted any so far.

"Our position will remain the same as the first time around: it's too early, so we won't accept any cost increases related to tariffs, and we'll work very closely with our supplier partners to find solutions," he said.

What's Up: Brew at the Zoo, Neighbour x Neighbour fest, Fiver, Exploration of Contentment, Mangofest

Brew at the ZooAssiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Ave.Friday, 7-10 p.m.Tickets $68 hereIn July, Winnipeg beer drinkers flocked to Blue Cross Park for the return of Ballpark Brewfest; in August, they convened at Le Patio 340 for the Winnipeg Beer Festival.

And on Friday, lager lovers and hop heads will descend on the Assiniboine Park Zoo for the annual Brew at the Zoo, which sees local breweries pouring their wares alongside a range of national and international products. (Note: the zoo proper is not open to Brew at the Zoo guests.)

Among the locals taking part at this year’s Brew at the Zoo are Kilter Brewing Co., Heritage Farms Brewing Co., Dastardly Villain Ale Works, One Great City Brewing Co. and Barn Hammer Brewing Co. Locals pouring non-beer options include Brat Cat Mead Co., Shrugging Doctor Beverage Company and Patent 5 Distillery.

Brew at the Zoo, then, offers much more than beer, with a range of ready-to-drink cocktails, coolers, cider, wine and spirits being poured throughout the event; non-alcoholic options include kombucha and non-alcoholic beer.

Distilleries to bear brunt of U.S. ban on Canadian booze: experts

Distilleries and spirit makers are likely to be the hardest hit among Canadian alcohol producers as the United States proposes a broad ban on Canadian booze starting later this month.

Craig Johnston, chief economist at Farm Credit Canada, said distilleries ship more than half of their overall product across the border.

"If you think about different categories of the alcohol industry — distilleries, wineries and breweries — it's really distilleries which have significant exposure to the U.S. market," he said.

Johnston said it will be challenging for many distilleries that sell stateside to find alternative homes for their products domestically, in Europe or elsewhere.

Canada’s reciprocal tariffs unlikely to hit grocery bills, economists say

Most grocery items have escaped the wrath of trade tensions so far as Canada's reciprocal tariffs took effect on Tuesday. But economists say some items, such as health and beauty products, could see prices rise in the short term.

"The retaliatory tariffs are not focused on food inflation. So, their direct impact on food prices should be fairly modest," said KPMG chief economist Ali Jaffery. 

About 20 per cent of all items affected are consumer products, Jaffery said, which is small enough to keep a lid on overall inflation in the coming months.

"Tariffs are reasonably well designed to limit both the economic damage, but also the price pressures that Canadians will face," Jaffery said in an interview.

Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week

TORONTO - Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:

Trade

Canada's counter-tariffs are set to take effect on Tuesday on nearly $28 billion worth of U.S. products. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the tit-for-tat measures after trade talks with the United States broke down last month and the Americans imposed fresh tariffs on some $28 billion in Canadian goods.

Financial conference

What is Regina pizza? It’s Greek, good and gets under the crust of Rider rivals

REGINA - It's a two-fisted, square-shaped, greasy-cheesy piece of goodness that has become an official symbol of Saskatchewan's capital city. 

It’s Regina-style pizza.

It's Greek, it’s good and, as a bonus, it gets under the crust of the CFL team that Saskatchewan fans love to hate.

The pie has been a staple in Regina dating back about a half century when, in 1970, Greek immigrant brothers George, Gus, John and Tony Kolitsas opened their first Houston Pizza restaurant on Hill Avenue.

Wonderful wines to help welcome autumn

Here are six new and/or notable wines ideal for sipping as we make the transition from warmer weather into the first hints of autumn.

For newcomer pizza purveyors, it’s all about crafting solid foundations

A recent poll conducted by an Internet-based market-research firm determined that close to 20 per cent of people eschew their leftover pizza crust.

Some argued that the residual crust lacks flavour. Others submitted that it’s too hard or crunchy to enjoy sans toppings. Given that information, what are we to make of Crusty Craft Pizza, a five-month-old takeout spot whose owners are so confident in their European-style pizza crust that they’ve chosen to highlight it in their business moniker?

Whenever somebody informs them they don’t like pizza crust, their response is, well, they haven’t tried theirs, says Oleksii Samokvhal, who together with his wife, Iryna Mehedyn, opened Crusty Craft Pizza in early April, at 1311 Day St. in Transcona.

“It’s thin in the middle, with raised edges we hand-form ourselves,” says Mehedyn, a native of Ukraine who, like her Kyiv-born husband, relocated to Winnipeg to escape the conflict in their home country.

N.B. regulator to review complaints about noise and odours near potato chips factory

FREDERICTON - A group of residents who live near a potato chip factory in a New Brunswick town are moving forward with their case against the company.

The 17 residents say the Covered Bridge Potato Chips Ltd. plant brings overwhelming smells, constant noise and more traffic to their once-quiet neighbourhood.

Each resident filed a claim with provincial farming regulator alleging the plant was causing significant and ongoing disruption to their lives.

The company's lawyer, Sheila Mecking, has asked the province's Farm Practices Review Board to settle the case, arguing that the company is an agricultural operator under provincial legislation.