Metro spotlights local fare at the Royal Winter Fair

Metro has taken its Locally Sourced marketing program to Toronto’s most important agricultural event, the Royal Winter Fair.

The Locally Sourced program was launched in 2016 and has been expanding since then, reaching Ontario-wide roll out earlier this year. In Ontario, Metro works with local vendors across seven regions of the province to offer more than 550 local products from 115 suppliers.

The program is a response to the growing stated preference of consumers for local over industrial/international food options, and the Royal Winter Fair is Toronto’s best representation of that ethos.

READ: Metro’s Homegrown Tour rolls into Oakville

The Fair, in Canada’s National Exhibition, just west of Toronto’s downtown core, draws agricultural leaders to showcase their products along with farm-curious urbanites.

This year to highlight its commitment to offering more locally sourced product, the grocer created “Spotlight on Local presented by Metro” to showcase local food grown, produced and manufactured in Ontario.

“As a neighbourhood grocer, we believe it is important to have community stores showcasing local food, and we know that supporting these products and suppliers is important to our customers, our employees and the communities where we operate,” said Joe Fusco, senior vice-president, Metro, in a release. “The Royal shares our passion for supporting local and introducing food lovers to new ingredients from our own backyard, so it is a natural partnership for us.”

Visitors to “Spotlight on Local” can try samples from some of the daily “grand champions” at the Fair's Agriculture Product Competitions, along with the other producers in the Locally Sourced Program. Popular local chef Matt Basile was also on hand for the first day of the fair to share a recipe featuring only local ingredients.