The President's Choice^® team knows we're better when we Eat Together

BRAMPTON, ON, June 14, 2019 /CNW/ - Despite being digitally more connected than ever, Canada remains a nation of isolation and loneliness.  Part of the problem is that the majority of Canadians still eat most of their meals alone.  In an effort to help combat this, the President's Choice® (PC) team is on a mission to bring Canadians back to the table to eat together.

"Eating alone has been proven to be a key contributor to unhappiness and loneliness*," says Uwe Stueckmann, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Loblaw Companies Limited. "We know that we're better when we Eat Together.  There are so many social, physical and mental benefits associated with the simple act of sharing a meal.  So let's spend more time with the people we love, at the table."

The PC^® Eat Together movement, which kicked off earlier this year, has inspired hundreds of thousands of Canadians to pledge to share mealtimes with family and friends.  Loblaw Companies Limited donated $1.00 for the first 250,000 pledges to President's Choice Children's Charity, which will support school nutrition grants throughout the country.  

Although the movement is gaining traction, there is still much more work to be done.  While recognized in the recent release of Canada's Food Guide as an important part of a healthy lifestyle, a recent survey** learned that 43 per cent spend less than 1 hour a day enjoying meals with friends and families.

To make it easy for people to connect with each other, the PC^® team is celebrating the third-annual Eat Together Day today on June 14th, and is inviting Canadians to free BBQ activations in select locations across the country, including Loblaws^®, Real Canadian Superstore^®, Your Independent Grocer^® and Zehrs^®.  Customers are encouraged to share #eattogether moments on social media and tag @preschoice(Open in a new tab). To find a participating location, visit www.pc.ca/eattogether(Open in a new tab).

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 13th 2018 an online survey of 1,594 randomly selected employed Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada panelists was executed by Maru/Blue.

From May 15th to May 16th 2019 an online survey of 1,516 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada(Open in a new tab) panelists was executed by Maru/Blue(Open in a new tab). For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.5%, 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