2023 ESG Report
Masse's No Frills: Winning the 2023 Feed More Families Champions Award
January 25, 2024
Richard Masse, who has spent 39 years in the grocery business, remembers when he and his wife Nancy became the co-owners of Masse’s No Frills in London, ON like it was yesterday. The year was 2010.
“We opened Masse's No Frills on December 10, 2010, and called it Masse's as a tribute to our heritage and that I was a second-generation Grocer. We sell food but also recognize that many cannot afford it. From day one, we knew it was crucial to give back to our community.”
Masse’s No Frills is among the 11 stores in the Loblaw banner network to have won the 2023 Feed More FamiliesTM Champions Award.
The Award recognizes stores (full list of winners below*) that have made an impactful contribution towards Loblaw’s pledge to provide 1 billion pounds of food to community-based charities by 2028. It is a commitment underpinned by the Feed More Families program. Stores were nominated by their District Managers and blindly voted on by the selection committee.
This past Holiday food drive Masse’s No Frills raised approx. $2,500 to support London Food Bank, their partner since 1992.
Since the Feed More Families program began in 2021, Masse’s No Frills has raised approx. $21,000 through the Feed More Families annual Holiday & Spring Food Drive.
Additionally, in 2023, the store has donated approx. $10,500 worth of food donations through Second Harvest to the local food bank London Food Bank, diverting approx. 4000 pounds.
As a part of the Feed More Families Champions Award, Loblaw provided Masse’s No Frills with a $5,000 cheque to be donated to the charity of their choice. The store selected their long-time food bank partner, London Food Bank, at the recently held in-store cheque presentation.
“Masse’s No Frills store contributions didn’t just bring resources, but it gave us hope and belief in a better future. Thanks to their efforts to raise donations amongst other contributions, we are now serving 6,000 families, or over 15,000 community members in London. The store has done for the food bank what it could never do for itself,” says Jane Roy, Co-Executive Director at London Food Bank.
All 11 awards recipients exemplify Loblaw’s pursuit of excellence towards fighting climate change and advancing social equity.
“I would advise all store owners keen on winning the 2024 Champions Award to remember three key things: invest the time to give back to the community, remember that small wins can spiral into huge outcomes and to celebrate the small wins with your colleagues,” says Richard.
Interested in learning more? Read about our Feed More Families program(Open in a new tab).
*Other winners include (in no particular order): (1) South Keys Loblaws, Ottawa, ON; (2) Zehrs Stanley Park; Kitchener, ON; (3) New Mina's Superstore, Nova Scotia; (4) Provigo Sylvain Lacoursière, Longueuil, Quebec; (5) Wholesale Club London, London, ON; (6) Shoppers Drug Mart – Six Point Plaza, Etobicoke, ON; (7) Kitchener Superstore, Kitchener, ON; (8) Maxi Trois-Rivières Ouest, Quebec; (9) Kaufman's Your Independent Grocer, Walkerton ON; (10) Fortinos Brisdale, Brampton, ON.
