A provincial rewards program designed to encourage consumers to buy local is getting mixed reviews from Nova Scotia producers and retailers, primarily for its selection of Sobeys Inc. grocery stores to hold a key role.
In July, the Tim Houston government announced details of a $950,000 contract with Sobeys for its long-promised Nova Scotia Loyal program.
Through the program, shoppers can get bonus Scene+ points at Sobeys stores one week a month, and bonus Air Miles at the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, when they buy local goods.
With both Scene+ and Air Miles, people can accumulate points that they can redeem for discounts on purchases.
“Politely, it was ‘Oh my God.’ It’s infuriating,” said Shelley McDemott, owner of TwinAitch Food for Thought in Aldersville, N.S.
As a meat producer and regular vendor at the Lunenburg Farmers’ Market, McDermott said she can’t understand why the Nova Scotia Loyal program chose one of the biggest grocery chains in Canada over local farmers such as herself.
“I just really felt that local should be local,” she said.
The rewards program totalling $6 million was a campaign promise by Houston’s Progressive Conservatives in 2021. At the time, he proposed a loyalty card that could be redeemed for local food and non-food items in an effort to boost demand for Nova Scotia products by 10 per cent.
The following year, in June 2022, Houston announced he was launching a survey into consumer behaviour at an event held at Masstown Market.
“Because of the uniqueness of it, we want to make sure we get it right,” Houston said at the time.
But the man standing beside him in that photo-op, Laurie Jennings, told CBC this month he always thought it was an “impossible task.”
“To have a program that identifies all of the Nova Scotia products — and to be able to track those purchases and reward customers at all of the different places they can buy them in the province — I’m sorry, that’s a really, really hard thing to do,” said Jennings, owner of Masstown Market.
He said his independent store isn’t reaping any benefits from the chosen path for the Nova Scotia Loyal program, but he insists it doesn’t bother him.
“Good job for them doing what they have done. It’s a little bit of a positive thing. I mean telling customers about why it’s important to buy local Nova Scotia products is really, really important,” said Jennings.
Feedback from public
Documents obtained by CBC News through a freedom-of-information request show some members of the public complained to the Premier’s Office about the agreement with Sobeys.
“This deal with Sobeys is wrong and not the way to…
Read More: N.S. chose a national grocery giant for its $6M buy local program. Reaction
