Growing up in Sault Ste. Marie with a father working as a butcher, Toni Vernelli loved eating meat. But it wasn’t long before she noticed that the food she was eating was coming from the farm animals she loved. When Vernelli was 18, she made the switch to veganism.
More than 30 years of animal activism later, Vernelli is now the head of communications for Veganuary, a 31-day pledge that challenges participants to go vegan for the month of January.
The challenge gives people a chance to “dip their toes” in the lifestyle, Vernelli said.
Vegans abstain from consuming any animal products. That means eating no meat, dairy or eggs and for some, extends to not wearing leather or fur or using products tested on animals.
People love a challenge, she said, pointing to Dry January, a month dedicated to giving up alcohol, or Stoptober, when people quit smoking for October.
Previously, promoting a plant-based diet was awareness-based, promoting cold-turkey vegetarianism or veganism.
“That’s not the way humans operate,” Vernelli said.
The challenge started in 2014 in the U.K. and when Veganuary co-founders Jane Land and Matthew Glover decide to create the pledge to go vegan.
Veganuary is now a worldwide movement with participants around the world. Canada is in the top 20 countries by number of participants, ranking 18th.
A 2018 Statista survey estimated that 0.85 per cent of Canadians were vegan and another 2.3 per cent were vegetarian.
In general, there are three main motivations for signing up for Veganuary, said Vernelli: animal protection, health benefits and environmental concerns.
Even Canadian companies have begun to recognize the monthly challenge.
Four years ago while on a business trip to the U.K., Rob Felix took notice of the Veganuary campaign in a number of British shops such as Tesco.
“From that trip and seeing it in retail, we brought it back and had our first Veganuary event about three years ago,” said the senior vice-president of merchandising at London Drugs.
While initially focusing on food, Felix said London Drugs has tripled the number of vegan products it sells from cleaning products to toothpaste and baby food, in January and year-round.
“Throughout the year, vegan alternatives are becoming more and more important,” he said.
Plant-based meat substitutes were forecast to reach around US$148.9 million by this year in Canada, up more than $40 million from 2019.
Earlier this year, the federal government invested $1.4 million in plant-based protein company Big Mountain Foods Ltd.
“Plant-based foods are growing in popularity as Canadians are increasingly looking for options to incorporate greater variety into their diets,” said Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau in a news release at the time.
When Vercelli first became vegan 32 years ago, she said that it would be a struggle to find vegan-friendly alternatives. For example, non-dairy milk was once only available at an Asian grocery store or in specialty coffee shops. But now, she said it is difficult to find a cafe that does not offer a number of plant-based milk alternatives.
“Thirty years ago they thought you were mad, like ‘What do you eat? How can you possibly survive?'”
She said veganism is now much more of an aspirational goal, where people often speak about the ways they have cut down on meat and dairy.
“Most people don’t like the idea of eating animals … but changing a habit of a lifetime is hard,” said Vernelli.
Upon signing up, Veganuary pledges will also gain access to a private Facebook group for support from other participants and will receive daily emailed recipes and nutritional tips.
If participating, Alyssa Fontaine, the founder of Plant Based Dieticians, recommends being mindful of not missing out on proteins and to get it from sources such as soy milk, tofu, beans and chickpeas.
While many vegans are required to substitute the B12 vitamin, a vitamin predominantly found in red meat, Fontaine said that for a month switch, additional supplements outside of a multivitamin and omega-3 are not necessary.
To brave the cold winter weather, Fontaine said that stews and stir fry are easy meals that can be packed with protein.
While it appears as though there are more vegan substitutes than ever before, she said that not all plant-based meat and dairy substitutes are made equal and it is better to stick to natural, whole foods to get the most health benefits from the lifestyle.
For Vernelli, making the switch to a more plant-focused lifestyle starts with making manageable substitutions.
“Then you can start experimenting with wacky things like quinoa and things you might never have had before.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 1, 2022.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Dollarama Inc.’s food aisles may have expanded far beyond sweet treats or piles of gum by the checkout counter in recent years, but its chief executive maintains his company is “not in the grocery business,” even if it’s keeping an eye on the sector.
“It’s just one small part of our store,” Neil Rossy told analysts on a Wednesday call, where he was questioned about the company’s food merchandise and rivals playing in the same space.
“We will keep an eye on all retailers — like all retailers keep an eye on us — to make sure that we’re competitive and we understand what’s out there.”
Over the last decade and as consumers have more recently sought deals, Dollarama’s food merchandise has expanded to include bread and pantry staples like cereal, rice and pasta sold at prices on par or below supermarkets.
However, the competition in the discount segment of the market Dollarama operates in intensified recently when the country’s biggest grocery chain began piloting a new ultra-discount store.
The No Name stores being tested by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. in Windsor, St. Catharines and Brockville, Ont., are billed as 20 per cent cheaper than discount retail competitors including No Frills. The grocery giant is able to offer such cost savings by relying on a smaller store footprint, fewer chilled products and a hearty range of No Name merchandise.
Though Rossy brushed off notions that his company is a supermarket challenger, grocers aren’t off his radar.
“All retailers in Canada are realistic about the fact that everyone is everyone’s competition on any given item or category,” he said.
Rossy declined to reveal how much of the chain’s sales would overlap with Loblaw or the food category, arguing the vast variety of items Dollarama sells is its strength rather than its grocery products alone.
“What makes Dollarama Dollarama is a very wide assortment of different departments that somewhat represent the old five-and-dime local convenience store,” he said.
The breadth of Dollarama’s offerings helped carry the company to a second-quarter profit of $285.9 million, up from $245.8 million in the same quarter last year as its sales rose 7.4 per cent.
The retailer said Wednesday the profit amounted to $1.02 per diluted share for the 13-week period ended July 28, up from 86 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The period the quarter covers includes the start of summer, when Rossy said the weather was “terrible.”
“The weather got slightly better towards the end of the summer and our sales certainly increased, but not enough to make up for the season’s horrible start,” he said.
Sales totalled $1.56 billion for the quarter, up from $1.46 billion in the same quarter last year.
Comparable store sales, a key metric for retailers, increased 4.7 per cent, while the average transaction was down2.2 per cent and traffic was up seven per cent, RBC analyst Irene Nattel pointed out.
She told investors in a note that the numbers reflect “solid demand as cautious consumers focus on core consumables and everyday essentials.”
Analysts have attributed such behaviour to interest rates that have been slow to drop and high prices of key consumer goods, which are weighing on household budgets.
To cope, many Canadians have spent more time seeking deals, trading down to more affordable brands and forgoing small luxuries they would treat themselves to in better economic times.
“When people feel squeezed, they tend to shy away from discretionary, focus on the basics,” Rossy said. “When people are feeling good about their wallet, they tend to be more lax about the basics and more willing to spend on discretionary.”
The current economic situation has drawn in not just the average Canadian looking to save a buck or two, but also wealthier consumers.
“When the entire economy is feeling slightly squeezed, we get more consumers who might not have to or want to shop at a Dollarama generally or who enjoy shopping at a Dollarama but have the luxury of not having to worry about the price in some other store that they happen to be standing in that has those goods,” Rossy said.
“Well, when times are tougher, they’ll consider the extra five minutes to go to the store next door.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
TORONTO – The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered TD Bank Group to pay US$28 million for repeatedly sharing inaccurate, negative information about its customers to consumer reporting companies.
The agency says TD has to pay US$7.76 million in total to tens of thousands of victims of its illegal actions, along with a US$20 million civil penalty.
It says TD shared information that contained systemic errors about credit card and bank deposit accounts to consumer reporting companies, which can include credit reports as well as screening reports for tenants and employees and other background checks.
CFPB director Rohit Chopra says in a statement that TD threatened the consumer reports of customers with fraudulent information then “barely lifted a finger to fix it,” and that regulators will need to “focus major attention” on TD Bank to change its course.
TD says in a statement it self-identified these issues and proactively worked to improve its practices, and that it is committed to delivering on its responsibilities to its customers.
The bank also faces scrutiny in the U.S. over its anti-money laundering program where it expects to pay more than US$3 billion in monetary penalties to resolve.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
