Sobeys lands untendered contract connected to Nova Scotia Loyal program

Nova Scotia government officials are keeping details about a $950,000-sole source contract awarded to Sobeys last month shrink wrapped for now.

The grocery giant, headquartered in Stellarton, N.S., got a contract on April 1 as part of the long-gestating consumer loyalty program, Nova Scotia Loyal.

The idea was part of the Progressive Conservatives’ 2021 election campaign. They promised to create a loyalty-style program that would use incentives to get more people buying local products.

A government spokesperson said in a statement that partnerships with other retailers are also being worked on and that details would be announced “at a later date.”

No other information was provided and it’s not clear what role Sobeys will have. 

Last summer, the government announced it would be surveying shoppers about buying habits and their thoughts on how the loyalty program should be branded and operated. It’s all part of the Tories’ goal of having 20 per cent of all food bought in Nova Scotia by 2030 being grown or produced in the province.

Economic Development Minister Susan Corkum-Greek told reporters earlier this month that Nova Scotia Loyal is in the final preparation stages.

“While I can’t, unfortunately, provide you with a date today — I may know one, but I just can’t share it with you — but … it is imminent,” she said, adding that the program will “absolutely” launch this year.

With seasonal farmers’ markets opening across the province, the minister said she’s keen to get on with the program.

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said he’s not surprised to see another untendered contract issued by the Tories, “because that’s how they do it.”

The province’s auditor general has flagged issues with contracts related to health care that the Tories have awarded without public calls for bids.

All the government has to show, so far, for its Nova Scotia Loyal campaign promise is marked trucks that have been used in parades and at other public events, said Churchill.

It would be his expectation that if the government is giving contracts to major players in the grocery industry, it will also take steps to include smaller retailers, he said.

“This money should be going to actually helping those local grocers, those local producers, to make sure that they can afford to do the job they’re doing and that more Nova Scotians can afford to buy locally produced food and goods.”

Nova Scotia’s net farm income has been negative for seven consecutive years, according to information released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday. 

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said awarding untendered contracts is “very on brand” for the Tories. It remains unclear to most people how the Nova Scotia Loyal program is going to help struggling farmers and people who have trouble paying for food, she said.

The government should be transparent and clear about what the contract with Sobeys is for, said Chender.

“If Nova Scotia Loyal is, in fact, about local food, then we need to understand what that means,” she said.

“Two-and-a-half years in, I still haven’t the slightest idea what Nova Scotia Loyal is other than something that sounds good to say.”

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