Latest news with #BenSigurdson
Winnipeg Free Press
9 hours ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
George Weston reports $258 million Q2 profit, announces stock split
TORONTO – George Weston Ltd. says its second-quarter profit available to common shareholders amounted to $258 million, down from $400 million in the same quarter last year. The company, which holds large interests in Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and Choice Properties REIT, says the drop in profit from last year came in part because of a fair value adjustment of a trust unit liability. On an adjusted basis, the company says it earned $401 million or $3.06 per diluted share for the quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $394 million or $2.93 per diluted share a year ago. Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $3.37 per diluted share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics. Revenue for the quarter totalled $14.82 billion, up from $14.09 billion in the same quarter last year. George Weston, whose shares stand at around $260 each, also announced a three-for-one stock split in a move it says will ensure common shares remain accessible to retail investors and employees, and to improve liquidity. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:WN)
Winnipeg Free Press
09-07-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Demand from ‘buy Canadian' movement pushes Purdys to move into grocer Save-On-Foods
Purdys Chocolatier says the buy Canadian movement has generated so much demand for its products that it decided to sell them outside its own stores for the first time in its 118-year-old history. Kriston Dean, the Vancouver-based confectionary company's vice-president of marketing and sales, says as soon as tariff tensions emerged, shoppers' interest in the brand was piqued. The brand's website traffic jumped more than 200 per cent and searches about whether it is Canadian popped by a whopping 300 per cent. When Easter rolled around, the spiking interest translated into a 25 per cent increase in new customers compared with the year before. Such numbers gave the company the confidence to forge a deal with Pattison Food Group to put four varieties of Purdys chocolates on the shelves of western Canadian grocer Save-On-Foods. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. Dean says Purdys is watching to see how its chocolates perform at Save-On-Foods to help determine whether it should expand its brand even further outside its own stores. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
09-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Winnipeg Free Press
Getting jiggly with it
Saturday is Eat Your Jell-O Day. In honour of this gelatinous holiday, we've done just that. Below you'll find Homemade recipes for sweet and savoury gelatin dishes submitted by Free Press readers, along with tasting notes from myself and colleagues Ben Sigurdson and Jen Zoratti. EVA WASNEY / FREE PRESS Clockwise from top left: Broken glass torte, spring parfait salad, orange jellied salad, tomato aspic. But first, a brief history of 'America's most famous dessert.' The use of gelatin in cooking dates back centuries. Previously considered an upper-class ingredient, owing to the labour involved in rendering animal bones, jellied dishes became a staple cuisine of 20th-century America thanks to the invention of 'portable gelatin.' Jell-O was trademarked in 1897 by carpenter and cough-syrup maker Pearle Wait in LeRoy, N.Y. — today home to the Jell-O Gallery Museum run by the LeRoy Historical Society. The society credits savvy advertising, including colourful recipe books and catchy jingles, with the product's widespread popularity. As an easy-to-use foodstuff, Jell-O also benefited from the rise of home economics, which preached efficiency, esthetics and order. While Jell-O was initially marketed as a light dessert, savoury moulded salads took inspiration from aspics before them and found an audience during the Depression, giving homemakers a creative way to stretch ingredients. The postwar processed-food boom kept savoury congealed meals en vogue until the 1950s and Jell-O, now owned by Kraft Heinz, has since returned to its sweet beginnings. And now, on to the eating. (Full disclosure: None of us grew up eating much Jell-O, so these dishes don't carry the fond nostalgia others might experience.) Tomato Aspic 1 (85-g) pkg lemon or lime Jell-O 250 ml (1 cup) boiled water 250 ml (1 cup) cold water 1 (540-ml) can stewed tomatoes, drained* Note: Tomatoes can be substituted with 625 ml (21/2 cups) mild, chunky salsa. Dissolve Jell-O in boiled water, stirring until powder is completely dissolved. Add cold water and stir. Refrigerate. When jelly is partially set, stir in drained stewed tomatoes. Pour into a mould or bowl greased with cooking spray and chill for at least 2 hours. — Donald L. Adamson Tasting Notes Jen Zoratti: It smells good, like tomato soup. Ben Sigurdson: I get salsa. Eva Wasney: I'm getting V8 vegetable juice. JZ: One, two, three, go. The flavour is actually pretty good. But I think this needs to be on something, like a cracker, then I might be OK with it. A straight forkful to the dome is a bit intense. BS: It's not the ideal delivery mechanism. EW: My problem with both of the savoury ones is that they use sweet lemon Jell-O, so I think there's a little bit too much sugar for my palate. BS: There are some big chunks of tomato here; should it be more finely chopped? EW: The recipe called for canned stewed tomatoes, which I did not strain first. That was a mistake and it ended way up too loose. Spring Parfait Salad 2 (85-g) pkgs lemon jello 250 ml (1 cup) boiled water 750 ml (3 cups) celery, diced 150 ml (2/3 cup) green bell pepper, diced 75 ml (1/3 cup) carrot, diced 500 ml (2 cups) cucumber, diced 125 ml (1/2 cup) radishes, sliced 250 ml (1 cup) salad dressing or Miracle Whip 125 ml (1/2 cup) crushed pineapple, drained Juice of one lemon Dissolve Jell-O in boiled water in a large bowl. Chill in the refrigerator until partially set. Add celery, green pepper, carrot, cucumber and radishes to a large bowl. Stir in dressing, mixing until vegetables are coated. Stir in pineapple and lemon juice. Add to Jell-O, stirring to incorporate. Pour into a greased mould and chill until set. — Shirley MacFarlane Tasting Notes EW: I'm really proud of how this one turned out. It is so satisfying to unmould a Jell-O. This one came out perfect, with a big thwump. JZ: It's very pretty; it looks like it's from the 1950s. BS: Wow, it's so crunchy. EW: This actually tastes quite familiar, almost like a coleslaw meets a relish. BS: That's my least favourite condiment. I hate relish and I dislike pineapple. JZ: I like the flavour in the background, but it's a textural nightmare for this girl. I have a lot of texture issues with food, so I'm proud of myself for trying this at all. BS: So do I, but I'm feeling adventurous. EW: Well good for you guys for getting outside your comfort zones. I have a bit of an issue with calling this a salad, but I do like it. JZ: But what is a salad, if not a bunch of vegetables in dressing? Orange Jellied Salad 1 (85-g) pkg orange Jell-O 1 (284-ml) can mandarin oranges, drained and liquid reserved EVA WASNEY / FREE PRESS Broken glass torte delivers textural variety and jewel-like colours. 250 ml (1 cup) boiled water 175 ml (3/4 cup) mandarin orange liquid 1 (85-g) pkg Dream Whip 125 ml (1/2 cup) milk 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) vanilla extract Dissolve Jell-O in boiled water. Stir in reserved mandarin orange liquid. Chill in the refrigerator until partially set. Make Dream Whip according to directions (whip powder with milk and vanilla until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes). Using a stand or electric mixer, combine Jell-O with prepared Dream Whip. Stir in mandarin orange segments. Pour mixture into a greased mould and set in the refrigerator overnight. — Cindy Plett Tasting Notes EW: I'm not sure if the oranges are supposed to be suspended throughout, but they all just kind of dropped to the bottom of the mould. BS: It smells like a creamsicle. Very vanilla too. JZ: That slaps. I think this needs whipped cream, or like a cold element on top of it for a little bit of juxtaposition. BS: This is good; I like this. EW: Oh, it's really light and fluffy. Very refreshing and not too sweet. And it's definitely the jiggliest of the bunch. Broken Glass Torte Filling 1 (85-g) pkg lemon Jell-O 1 (85-g) pkg lime Jell-O 1 (85-g) pkg strawberry Jell-O 750 ml (3 cups) boiled water 1 (7-g) pkg Knox unflavoured gelatin 60 ml (1/4 cup) cold water 250 ml (1 cup) pineapple juice 500 ml (2 cups) whipping cream 125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla Crust 500 ml (2 cups) graham crumbs 125 ml (1/2 cup) melted butter 125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar Dissolve each package of Jell-O into 250 ml (1 cup) boiled water and pour into three greased 8×8-inch pans. Chill in the refrigerator until completely set and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. (Note: The Jell-O can be made in advance to cut down on waiting time.) Add Knox gelatin to the cold water to soften. Add pineapple juice and gelatin to a small pot and bring to a slow boil on the stovetop. Set aside or in the refrigerator to cool. Whip cream until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and vanilla. Fold in the cooled pineapple-gelatin mixture. Fold in the Jell-O cubes. To make the crust, mix graham crumbs with melted butter and sugar. Press two-thirds of the crust into the base of a clear glass dish. Pour in filling and sprinkle with remaining graham crumbs. Refrigerate for two to three hours. — Karen Burns Tasting Notes EW: Look at that cross-section. JZ: These Jell-O colours are beautiful. This is totally something I could see making a Christmas tradition. EW: And you could definitely play around with the flavours. I like this one quite a bit. There's a bit more textural differences because the Jell-O is solid, the whipped cream is light and the crust is crunchy. BS: Wow, this one might be my favourite. And it doesn't come across as super old-fashioned to me. EW: It's crazy that it's the same base ingredient in all of these dishes. People have gotten really creative, it's like, what can't we put in Jell-O? BS: What did you learn while making all these Jell-Os? Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. EW: Jell-O is very easy to work with, all you have to do is boil water and wait. And the presentation, in the end, is very satisfying. JZ: It seems like you get a lot of juice without much of a squeeze. EW: Exactly. We're currently looking for camping recipes for an upcoming edition of Homemade. Visit to fill out the submission form. Eva WasneyReporter Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva. Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Hit the patio with local pilsners, radlers and sours
Opinion With summer kicking off in earnest this weekend, Manitoba craft brewers have once again introduced a slate of new (or back-by-popular-demand), refreshing pilsners, sours, radlers and other tasty options for your warm-weather sipping. Here are six more local brews to help beat the heat… One Great City x FortWhyte Alive Patio Party G&T Pilsner (Winnipeg — $4.49/473ml cans, brewery, beer vendors, Liquor Marts) A pilsner infused with juniper, coriander, lime, bergamot and grapefruit, the Patio Party is medium straw and hazy in appearance, with intense spice and herbal aromatics (emphasis on the lime and bergamot) as well as fresh malt notes. It's dry, light-bodied and with a decent amount of bitterness coming from both the hops and bergamot notes, while the citrus and berry notes are lean and peppy (as opposed to overly juicy), with almost a hint of tannin on the finish. The 4.75 per cent alcohol is unobtrusive. Fun, lively stuff. 3.5/5 Bookstore Brewing Co. Crackin' Wise Ol' West Pilsner (Winnipeg — $3.50/473ml cans, Oxus Brewing Co., beer vendors, Liquor Marts) A more straightforward style of pilsner, the Crackin' Wise features three types of malt and two types of hops; it's pale gold and mainly clear in appearance, with loads of malt and caramel aromas as well as grassy and floral notes on the nose. On the dry, light-plus-bodied palate, the malty notes are front and centre, with hints of bread dough, cracked wheat and, at five per cent alcohol, a modest finish. An example of a pilsner with great depth of flavour. Brewed at Oxus Brewing Co. 4/5 FullGeek BrewLab Lemony Bastard Mexican Cerveza (Winnipeg — $3.99/473ml cans, Oxus Brewing Co., beer vendors, Liquor Marts) Medium straw in colour and clear, this lemon-infused Mexican-style beer brings bright citrus along with fresh malt, hints of saline and grapefruit rind. It's light-bodied and dry, with malty flavours working well with the surprisingly subtle lemon notes, with medium acidity and, at five per cent alcohol, a modest finish. Crack open, pour in a glass, adorn with a lemon and enjoy when the lawn mowing's done. Brewed at Oxus Brewing Co. 3.5/5 Sookram's Brewing Co. Pink Slip Lemonade Sour (Winnipeg — $4.75/473ml cans, brewery, beer vendors, Liquor Marts) Medium pinkish-orange in colour and clear, this sour brew features lemon juice and hibiscus. Aromatically the tart citrus is front and centre, with hints of sour candy, chalky and saline notes. It's light-bodied and dry, balancing tart citrus flavours with an almost-salty and chalky component, all of which comes mouth-watering acidity that keeps things lively and lingers long after the five per cent alcohol. A fab summer sipper. 4/5 Kilter Brewing Co. Crush Passionfruit Guava Radler (Winnipeg — $4.29/473ml cans, brewery, beer vendors, Liquor Marts) Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. This medium-gold and hazy radler is infused with a tropical juice blend, which offers a fruit salad of guava, peach, mango, nectarine and pineapple notes on the nose. It's a medium-bodied brew driven by ripe tropical fruit flavours, rich peach and nectarine and a hint of sweet coconut. Bitterness and acidity are low, as is the alcohol content (3.5 per cent), but the big bold fruit flavours deliver. 4/5 Nonsuch Hazy IPA (Winnipeg — $4.80/473ml cans, brewery, beer vendors, Liquor Marts) Pale copper and hazy in appearance, Nonsuch's hazy IPA leads with ripe mango and pineapple aromas along with fresh malt, nectarine and peach notes. It's medium-bodied and mainly dry, with mango, peach and coconut coming with hints of pineapple, modest bitterness and, with 6.5 per cent alcohol, a medium-length finish. A fresh and chewy hazy IPA with loads of character. 4.5/5 uncorked@ @bensigurdson Ben SigurdsonLiterary editor, drinks writer Ben Sigurdson is the Free Press's literary editor and drinks writer. He graduated with a master of arts degree in English from the University of Manitoba in 2005, the same year he began writing Uncorked, the weekly Free Press drinks column. He joined the Free Press full time in 2013 as a copy editor before being appointed literary editor in 2014. Read more about Ben. In addition to providing opinions and analysis on wine and drinks, Ben oversees a team of freelance book reviewers and produces content for the arts and life section, all of which is reviewed by the Free Press's editing team before being posted online or published in print. It's part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
19-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Sobeys and Safeway parent Empire Co. reports Q4 profit up, raises dividend
STELLARTON – Empire Co. Ltd. raised its quarterly dividend as it reported its fourth-quarter profit and sales rose compared with a year ago. The grocery retailer, which operates Sobeys, Safeway and other banners, says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 22 cents per share, up from 20 cents. The increased payment to shareholders came as Empire says it earned a profit attributable to owners of the company of $173 million or 74 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended May 3. The result was up from a profit of $149 million or 61 cents per diluted share a year ago. Sales for the quarter totalled $7.64 billion, up from $7.41 billion in the same quarter last year. Same-store rose 3.0 per cent as same-store sales for fuel fell 7.8 per cent driven by lower prices due to the removal of the government carbon tax. Food same-store sales rose 3.8 per cent. On an adjusted basis, Empire says it earned 74 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 63 cents per diluted share a year ago. Every Second Friday The latest on food and drink in Winnipeg and beyond from arts writers Ben Sigurdson and Eva Wasney. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:EMP.A)
