

Feature interviews with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois talking Canada's new food guide and RCC's SVP Public Affairs Karl Littler on the new NAFTA, Sustainability and other key national issues for retailers
Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of May 27th 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Purolator, Canada's Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com
In this episode part two of my interview with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University as we discuss Canada’s new food guide, the rise of plant-based meat alternatives for “flexitarians” and the state of grocery eCommerce.
Next, part two of my interview with Karl Littler Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at RCC as we jump right in talking about the new NAFTA agreement including insights to the ratification process, credit card fees, grocery issues and sustainability. You can connect with Karl at Klittler@retailcouncil.org or directly to RCC via this link: https://www.retailcouncil.org/contact/
Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including the need for a new West Coast port, Walmart tricks out their new concept urban super centre in Toronto, Indigo shifts creative direction, understanding Kate Hudson, TopShop closes in the U.S. but remains in Canada, the Amazon purge, celebrating the Sobey Family, Ocado invests in robot meal preparer and much, much more.
But first, let’s listen in to my interview with Sylvain Charlebois as we chat about Canada’s new food guide
Thanks to Sylvain and Karl for being my guests in this episode, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.
That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
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I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn
Until next time, have a great week!
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.