Plant-Based Beverage Brand: Sobeys Atlantic Before National
Empire Company's category buyers in Stellarton don't bet national on Year One. Atlantic Canada was the proof-region. 12 stores into 358 over 11 months, with the velocity data that earned the cross-region pitch.
Growth in Conversions
Plant-based beverage brand needed Sobeys Atlantic regional listing as proof-of-concept for national expansion.
Content Optimization
MOART submitted category-captain materials, executed 3 regional demo waves across Halifax, Moncton, and St. John's metros, and built Sobeys vendor portal integration.
Organic Traffic
1682%
Dramatic Increase
Project Overview
Empire Company runs three banner systems in Atlantic Canada. Sobeys, Foodland, and the Co-op cluster. Operating across a regional grid that has its own velocity rhythms different from Ontario or BC. National listings are earned region by region. Atlantic is the smallest of Empire's regions, but it's where the category-management team in Stellarton vets new brands before opening Ontario or the West.
Execution
The strategy was Atlantic-first, with the explicit ask in the first buyer meeting being a 12-store pilot expanded to regional, then a presentation back to Empire HQ for cross-region consideration.
We started in 12 Sobeys stores across the Halifax-Dartmouth metro, ran demo waves of 3 days each across spring (April-May), summer (July), and back-to-school (September) windows. By Q3, the velocity data per banner-format had earned the regional expansion: Sobeys (247 stores), Foodland (78), and the Halifax-area co-op cluster (33). The cross-region pitch to Empire HQ in Stellarton is scheduled for the next line review.
Project Results
358 Empire Atlantic stores across Sobeys, Foodland, and Co-op banners. Built from a 12-store Halifax-Dartmouth pilot. 5 SKUs with 3 demo waves (April, July, September). Average sell-through across the region: 64%. Cross-region pitch on the next Empire HQ review calendar.
Conclusion
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