The President's Choice® team is challenging
Canadians and their employers to break the cycle, share a meal on
Eat Together Day, June 22
BRAMPTON, ON, June 18, 2018 /CNW/ - Did you eat alone today? If
so, you weren't alone. More and more Canadians reportedly eat in
solitude, which according to a recent study from Oxford Economics*
is more strongly associated with unhappiness than any single factor
other than having a mental illness. In an effort to break the
cycle of solitude, the President's Choice® (PC®) team is
challenging Canadians to get back to the table, share a meal and
#eattogether.
In this year's Eat Together film, viewed 25 million times and
discussed widely online, the PC® team takes aim at the
workplace, where eating alone has become part of the culture and
daily routine – with six out of 10 Canadians calling it a "new
societal norm." According to a recent survey commissioned by
President's Choice**, two-thirds of us most often eat lunch alone,
nearly half do so every day.
"Spending time together over food has the power to bring
families closer, to connect colleagues, and to bring together
diverse communities," said Galen G.
Weston, Chairman and CEO, Loblaw Companies Limited.
"We know the benefits. Today, we're challenging all Canadians to
imagine the impact we could have if, just a little more often, we
took the time to eat together."
"At Loblaw, our business is food. As a retailer with one of the
country's leading networks of independent businesses and as one of
Canada's largest employers, we know that action on our part could
drive change," says Sarah Davis,
President, Loblaw Companies Limited. "This year, we're all in. We
are asking our network of our nearly 200,000 colleagues to embrace
the spirit of this initiative and eat together during the day, and
we're hosting free BBQ lunches for our customers at stores across
the country. In addition, hundreds of our vendors and
partners will be joining us by eating together at their
offices."
Although we are eating alone more often, Canadians see a clear
benefit of eating together. In fact, the PC® survey**
revealed that three-quarters of working Canadians see an
improvement in communication with their colleagues when they eat
together and 64 per cent agree that eating lunch with colleagues at
work makes their day more enjoyable.
"Progressive companies are embracing the meal sharing traditions
of old," said Dr. Nick Hobson,
University of Toronto Behavioural
Science Lecturer. "They are tapping into an ancient human practice,
knowing well and good that eating together is the furthest thing
from a waste of precious work time."
Despite knowing the benefits, more than half of working
Canadians (59%)** agree that eating alone in the workplace has
become the norm, instead of eating with colleagues and friends,
citing the following reasons for not stepping away from their desks
at lunch time
- Feel like eating alone at work has become the new societal norm
(59%)
- Like to spend meal time catching up on personal business
uninterrupted (25%)
- Think they're too busy to stop what they're doing (23%)
- Like to spend time on social media without interruption
(12%)
Loblaw and the President's Choice® team are encouraging
Canadians to participate in Eat Together Day in a number of ways –
join a free BBQ at select Loblaw grocery stores including Loblaws,
Real Canadian Superstores, Provigo and Atlantic Superstore across
Canada, to find a location near you or join the Facebook event
visit https://eattogether.presidentschoice.ca . You can also
participate by sharing #eattogether on social media, or simply grab
a friend, colleague or family member and spend some time together
over food.
About Loblaw Companies Limited:
Loblaw Companies
Limited is Canada's food and pharmacy leader, with almost 200,000
full and part-time employees working in more than 2,400 corporate,
franchised and Associate-owned locations in communities across the
country. Loblaw is proud to serve millions of Canadians each week
with a wide range of products, including grocery, pharmacy, health
and beauty, no-fee financial services, apparel, general
merchandise, and wireless mobile products and services.
Loblaw delivers on its purpose – Live Life Well – by providing
its customers with convenient locations, more than 1,050 grocery
stores that span the value spectrum from discount to specialty,
full-service pharmacy at more than 1,800 locations, and leading
consumer brands including Life Brand®, no name®, President's
Choice® and Joe Fresh®.
*A landmark survey commissioned by Oxford Economics and the
National Centre for Social Research (methodology below)
About the Oxford Economics Survey:
Sainsbury launched its Living Well Index in September 2017, in collaboration with Oxford
Economics and the National Centre for Social Research. This
regularly-updated index provides a unique insight into the nation's
(United Kingdom) mood, and
people's views of how "well" they are living. The survey data
was collected from more than 8,000 British adults. The same
group was surveyed again in January and February 2018. The
latest report summarizes the findings and analysis.
**A survey commissioned by President's Choice
(methodology below)
About the President's Choice Survey:
From May 2nd to
May 3rd 2018 an online
survey of 805 randomly selected employed Canadian adults who are
Maru Voice Canada panelists was
executed by Maru/Blue. For comparison purposes, a probability
sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which
measures sampling variability) of +/- 3.4%, 19 times out of
20. The results have been weighted by education, age, gender and
region (and in Quebec, language)
to match the population, according to Census data. This is to
ensure the sample is representative of the entire adult population
of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to
rounding.
SOURCE Loblaw Companies Limited