In our 2023 retail grocery market study, one of the areas of focus was how we can incentivize more independent grocers to enter and expand, in addition to encouraging additional international grocers to enter. That competitive vigour that would challenge the incumbents is something that is important for both small and medium-sized enterprises that are trying to enter and expand, but also for consumers who are looking for the benefits of competition at the grocery store. Those independents are a key part of our recommendations to try to tackle things like the property controls in local markets that might stop them from even offering a sampling of food products, or a full array.
