Consumer Attitudes & Behavior

A new survey suggests half of Canada's small businesses have already seen a drop in sales due to the economic effects of COVID-19.

Consumers on the go are turning to quick and easy food options outside of restaurantsSupermarkets and convenience stores are turning to foodservice to drive growth and keep pace with multitasking consumers looking for easy meals on the fly.

Robust sales of jerky, sticks and bars give snack-lovin’ Canadians plenty to chew on Meat snacks are taking a big bite out of the snack category for convenience stores.

As of Jan.

As cigarette volumes continue to decline, Altria Group Inc.

[caption id="attachment_23009" align="alignright" width="300"] Shutterstock[/caption]Convenience stores not a top source of vaping products for youth, according to the “2019 Drug use Among Ontario Students Report”  by The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).“This data confirms what the CICC has been saying for months, convenience stores are not the source of vaping products for youth, and this report makes the Ontario government’s targeting of convenience stores in their attempt to address the youth vaping problem all the more baffling” says Anne Kothawala, president and CEO of the Convenience Industry Council of Canada.The Ontario government is currently considering both a flavour ban and a nicotine cap for the sale of vapour products sold in convenience stores, but not specialty vape shops or online retailers.

Company halts Indonesia e-cigarette sales, throwing Asia expansion in doubt Investigators from 39 states will look into the marketing and sales of vaping products by Juul Labs, including whether the company targeted youths and made misleading claims about nicotine content in its devices, officials announced Tuesday.

Starting on Canada Day, British Columbia will add provincial sales tax to all carbonated beverages that contain sugar.The new rules span bottled and canned soda, as well as beverages dispensed through soda fountains, soda guns and vending machines.Finance Minister Carole James announced in her budget last week that the 7% provincial sales tax will takes effect on July 1 and is expected to generate $27 million in revenues in the 2020-2021 budget year.Belgium, United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, France, Portugal, Norway and Hungary charge an excise tax of 20% on such drinks, while eight cities in the United States also levy sugar taxes, including Berkeley, Calif., where a University of California study published last year in the American Journal of Public Health found sugar-drink consumption was down almost 52% in some neighbourhoods and water consumption was up 29%.The B.C.