A ranking of Canada's top grocery stores says Loblaw-owned retailers are Ontario's favourites
What about Costco, Walmart, and other big chains?
Real Canadian Superstore sign. Right: No Frills aisle.
There's a new ranking of the grocery stores in Canada that shoppers prefer.
It has revealed that quite a few Loblaw-owned stores are favourites in Ontario.
Dunnhumby, a data science company, recently put out the 2025 Retailer Preference Index that combined financial performance and customer perceptions to analyze the Canadian grocery market.
The ranking is based on these five categories:
- price, promotions and rewards (base prices, loyalty programs, private brands, etc.)
- quality (product offerings, customer service, store ambiance, etc.)
- digital (online shopping, store app, etc.)
- speed and convenience (store locations, checkout experience, etc.)
- operations (accurate pricing, consistent shopping experience, etc.)
Dunnhumby said Canada's most popular retailers tend to be food discount, club and supercentre format stores.
These are the top grocery stores in Canada, according to the 2025 Retailer Preference Index:
- Costco
- Maxi
- Food Basics
- Real Canadian Superstore
- No Frills
But the stores that shoppers prefer in Ontario aren't exactly the same as all of Canada.
The leading national food discount, club and supercentre format store in Ontario is Costco, while the leading regional stores are Food Basics and Zehrs.
In the price and mass promo category, Food Basics and No Frills are the top grocery stores in Ontario.
Zehrs, Real Canadian Superstore, Loblaws and Your Independent Grocer are Ontario's top retailers for personalized promos and loyalty programs.
Farm Boy, Longo's and Fortinos are the top stores in Ontario in the quality category of the 2025 Retailer Preference Index.
Dunnhumby noted that these small regional grocery chains rival the quality of Whole Foods, which is an international standard for organic, natural and sustainable food shopping.
Then, Foodland is Ontario's top store for speed and convenience, while Longo's and Farm Boy are the top stores for operations.
A lot of the leading retailers in Ontario are owned by Loblaw Companies Limited, including Zehrs, Real Canadian Superstore, Your Independent Grocer and Fortinos.
Shoppers in other provinces prefer retailers like Walmart, Maxi, Sobeys, Thrifty Foods, Atlantic Superstore, Safeway, and Save-On-Foods.
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This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.