Sobeys is the second largest food retailer in Canada, with over 1,300 supermarkets operating under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales of more than $14 billion CAD in 2009. It is part of the conglomerate Empire Company Limited.

In 1907, Sobeys was founded in Stellarton, Nova Scotia by John W. Sobey as a meat delivery business. In 1924 his son Frank H. Sobey convinced him to expand into a full grocery business, serving the industrial Pictou County region. From that point until his death, Frank was the driving force behind the business. Sobeys opened its first self-serve supermarket in 1949.

The chain eventually expanded throughout Atlantic Canada. During most of the second half of the 20th century it was the region's dominant grocer. In the 1980s, Sobeys expanded into southern Ontario, challenging Loblaws on its "home turf", thereby igniting what came to be a nationwide battle for market supremacy.

Sobeys had significant stakes in New England grocer Hannaford and Quebec grocer Provigo until the 1990s.

James Trevor "Jamie" Oliver, MBE (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and media personality, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools. He strives to improve unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits in the United Kingdom and the United States. Jamie Oliver's speciality is Italian cuisine, although he has a broad international repertoire.

Jamie Oliver was brought up in Clavering, Essex, England. His parents ran a pub, "The Cricketers", where he used to practise in the kitchen. He was educated at Newport Free Grammar School. He left school at age sixteen without qualifications and went on to attend Westminster Kingsway College, formerly Westminster College. He then earned a City & Guilds NVQ in home economics.

His first job was as a pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio's Neal's Yard restaurant, where he first gained experience with preparing Italian cuisine, and developed a relationship with his 'mentor' Gennaro Contaldo. Oliver then moved to The River Café, Fulham, as a sous chef.

William G. "Bill" McEwan is President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Sobeys Inc., the second largest Canadian grocery retailer and food distributor.

A native of Trail, British Columbia, at 15, McEwan had a part-time job bagging groceries at a local store; he liked it so much that after a year-and-a-half at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, he went back to the business full-time.

Since then, McEwan has spent more than 30 years in the grocery retailing and consumer packaged goods industries, with Super Valu, Ferraro's Limited, Coca-Cola (where he was vice president market development, Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd.) and The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P). At A&P, McEwan was senior vice president of grocery and non-food merchandising for the company's Canadian operations, before being appointed president and chief merchandising officer in 1996. He was later appointed president and CEO of the company's U.S. Atlantic Region.

Since joining Sobeys in November 2000, McEwan has overseen the development and execution of the company's long-term strategic plan. McEwan is also on the board of directors for CIES - The Food Business Forum, and is a past chairman of the Grocery Industry Foundation Together (GIFT) in Canada.