At Loblaw, the many languages of food

With Canada’s population growing more diverse, grocery retailers are trying to make sure they have the products that their Chinese, Indian and other ethnic customers are looking for.

Now, one grocery chain is going a step further by offering shoppers the chance to speak to staff in their own language.

Loblaw Companies is rolling out a program called “I Speak” in which employees at its stores who speak a language besides English are easy for customers to spot.

All additional languages spoken by employees are being written on their nametags.

The I Speak program was piloted in Western Canada by Loblaw’s Real Canadian Superstore banner. So far, 16 languages have been identified, including Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi Italian and Spanish.

Loblaw hopes to have all its stores involved in the program by next year.

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