Awards Archive

Bimbo Canada is proud to announce that it has won two 2023 Clean50 awards. The company won a national award for transitioning from plastic bread bag closures to compostable cardboard clips. We are also proud to announce that Jeff Robertson, Director, Environment and Sustainability, has been named a 2023 Clean50 Emerging Leader. 

In April 2022, Bimbo Canada became the first national bakery in North America to introduce compostable bread bag clips on all bread products including Dempster’s®, Villaggio®, POM®, Bon Matin®, Ben’s®, and Stonemill®. This small, yet impactful has reduced the company’s single-use plastic by approximately 200 metric tonnes annually. 

Jeff Robertson, Bimbo Canada’s Director, Environment and Sustainability, has been named a 2023 Clean50 Emerging Leader and leads a small team in identifying and catalyzing sustainability projects in 16 plants across Canada. He was instrumental in leading the change to compostable and recyclable packaging clips. 

We are thrilled to announce that our Oroweat and Bon Matin Keto Tortillas won the 2023 Best New Product awards in the Specialty Tortilla category, as voted on by Canadian consumers. 

Dempster’s Zero Zero Bread won the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards won in the Bakery Fresh category. 

Bimbo Canada has been named one of Canada's Best Employers in 2023 by Forbes. This tremendous honour recognizes our commitment to creating an outstanding workplace for our associates. 

Hosted by the Environmental Careers Organization of Canada (ECO Canada), the awards recognize the contributions of Canadian Environmental Professionals in the environmental sector.  

Jeff Robertson, Director of Environment & Sustainability, won the Environmental Professionals Award. 

Bimbo Canada, the manufacturer of Dempster’s, Villaggio and Vachon, is pleased to announce that Shukri Abdulle has been named a 2023 Report on Business magazine Changemaker. 

Changemakers is an editorial award program produced by Report on Business magazine at The Globe and Mail. This program celebrates emerging business leaders who are making a difference in their industry with their ideas, accomplishments, and impact. 

The Globe and Mail solicited nominations for the Changemakers award in fall 2022. Winners were selected by The Globe and Mail’s award-winning editorial team for their bold notions and leadership, as determined by their nominations, subsequent interviews and reference checks. 

Jeff Robertson, Director, Environmental Sustainability, has been recognized as one of Canadian Grocer’s Generation Next winners! This prestigious award celebrates trailblazers under the age of 40 in the grocery industry who are innovative, excel at what they do and demonstrate a commitment to shaping the future of the grocery industry. 

Jeff was selected for his contribution to driving sustainability initiatives in our facilities, which has resulted in significant achievements for Bimbo Canada as we pursue the ambitious goal of achieving Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2050. 

In the last three years, Jeff has exhibited exceptional leadership in overseeing and helping our business implement more than 100 sustainability initiatives to reduce water, gas and electricity usage and to reduce food loss and waste. Supported by Jeff’s leadership, we have also reduced our CO2-equivalent carbon emissions by 2,500 tonnes per year, and launched our cardboard bread bag closures, a first-to-market solution in Canada. 

Jeff also volunteers his time with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as the Vice Chair of their board to help develop sustainability standards at a global level. These forward-thinking initiatives not only demonstrate Jeff’s commitment to environmental responsibility, but also contribute to Bimbo Canada’s and the grocery industry’s overall environmental impact reduction efforts. 

Bimbo Canada won the Payworks award for best corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy at the 2023 Canadian HR awards. 

The award recognizes how Bimbo Canada has embedded corporate social responsibility into its culture, in particular through our people and the role our people have played in the strategy and execution of CSR initiatives. 

Bimbo Canada is the proud winner of two 2023 Canadian Grocer Impact Awards for Sustainability and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The Canadian Grocer Impact Awards recognize initiatives introduced by retailers, suppliers and solution providers that are making a meaningful difference in a range of areas from helping the planet to supporting employees and communities. 

We won the Impact Award for Sustainability for being the first national bakery company to transition from plastic bread bag closures to recyclable and municipally compostable cardboard clips which reduces our plastic use by approximately 200 metric tonnes annually. This initiative is a good example of how small things add up to big things. And, we are not stopping there. By 2025, 100% of our packaging will support a circular economy through being reusable, recyclable, biodegradable or compostable. 

We won the Impact Award for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for our reconciliation work. In May 2021, the discovery of mass, unmarked graves at a location that was previously an Indian residential school hit the news. Following this discovery, our associates made it loud and clear that this was an important issue. Since then, we have taken action to create a safe, diverse, and inclusive workplace where everyone feels like they belong. In partnership with the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, we have four Legacy Spaces to build cultural understanding, connections and a path to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Additionally, all associates have access to Indigenous Cultural Competency Training and opportunities to participate in initiatives that support our diversity, equity, and inclusion journey. 

Our Vice President of People and Corporate Affairs, Leslee Wills has been recognized as one of Canadian Grocer’s Star Women in Grocery. The award recognizes the important role that women play across all areas of the Canadian grocery industry, highlighting their exceptional talents and dedication. 

Leslee was selected for the critical role that she plays in leading the company’s vision of driving growth through the talent of its people and transforming the baking industry by giving life to our organizational purpose of Nourishing a Better World.  This is a well-deserved recognition of her hard work and dedication. 

At Bimbo Canada, safety and wellness is prioritized over everything else. This award recognizes our ongoing efforts to create a physically and psychologically safe workplace that is flexible and offers our associates many opportunities for engagement. 
 
Our people are much more than just associates and their lives encompass more than just work. We are committed to Nourishing A Better World together and fostering an environment where everyone feels like they belong. 

Sylvia Sicuso, Director of Corporate Affairs, has been recognized as one of Canadian Grocer’s Star Women in Grocery. The award recognizes the important role that women play across all areas of the grocery business in Canada and showcases the talented contributors to the industry. Congratulations to Sylvia and all the other winners. 

Bimbo Canada has won two Communitas Awards in the categories of Excellence in Community Service for our Good Neighbour Program and Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility in the area of Ethical And Environmental Responsibility. 

The Communitas Award recognizes exceptional businesses, organizations, and individuals who are unselfishly giving of themselves and their resources, and those who are changing how they do business to benefit their communities.  

Bimbo Canada was selected as a recipient of the awards because we exhibit the spirit of communitas, a Latin word that means people coming together for the good of a community.  We join other winners recognized for specific programs involving volunteerism, philanthropy or ethical, sustainable business practices.  

Bimbo Canada is a proud recipient of the 2022 Enel Sustainable Footprint Award. This award is recognition of our exceptional contribution to supporting a stronger, more resilient, and more sustainable energy grid.  

Marcin Krzyzanowski, Director, Supply Chain for Ontario, has been recognized as one of Canadian Grocer’s Generation Next winners. The award recognizes rising stars in the grocery industry under the age of 40 who are innovative, excel at what they do and demonstrate a commitment to the industry. 

Marcin was selected for his passion, along with his strong leadership and change management skills. Despite the challenges imposed on our manufacturing and logistics capabilities during the last two years, his ability to bring together cross-functional stakeholders, react quickly to market demands and keep costs in check helped us to achieve success and ensure that our customers had the best assortment of delicious and nutritious baked goods and snacks on their shelves, available for all Canadians to enjoy. 

Congratulations to Marcin on receiving this distinction from Canadian Grocer magazine and we thank him deeply for his outstanding leadership and commitment to our associates, customers and consumers.   

Sylvia Sicuso, Director of Communications, has been selected as a Finalist for the dentsu Award for Best HR Communications Strategy in the 8th annual Canadian HR Awards, the leading independent awards event for the HR profession in Canada.  

Sylvia was selected for her work in leading Bimbo Canada’s COVID-19 response communications strategy. She has been instrumental in ensuring associates felt informed, calm and safe during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout the past 15 months. Congratulations, Sylvia! 

Wendy Outram, Vice President of North American Procurement Shared Services, has been recognized as one of Canadian Grocer's Star Women in Grocery. The award recognizes the important role that women play across all areas of the grocery business in Canada and showcases the talented contributors to the industry. 

Wendy was selected for her key role in keeping Bimbo Canada’s bakeries running by sourcing high-quality ingredients and packaging at the most competitive and sustainable prices, ensuring that customers and consumers have the best assortment of delicious and nutritious baked goods and snacks in stores across the country. 

Congratulations to Wendy on this distinction from Canadian Grocer magazine and we thank her deeply for her outstanding leadership, passion and commitment to the grocery industry. 

Lynn Langrock Recognized as one of Canada’s Best Executives by the Report on Business Magazine for her leadership throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The 2020 Canada’s Best Executive Awards celebrates 50 exceptional leaders at the SVP, EVP and C-Suite levels from five functional job categories – Finance, Human Resources and Culture, Operations, Sales and Marketing and Technology.  Click here to read the press release from Report on Business magazine.

Congratulations to Lynn on this award.  Our deep thanks to her for her tireless efforts on building our diverse and inclusive culture and for continuing to make the safety and well-being of our associates, customers, consumers, franchisees, distributors our top priority as we feed Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bimbo Canada is pleased to recognize Marie-Eve Royer, Senior Vice President, Business Transformation, for her leadership, passion and commitment to the grocery industry. 

Leading Bimbo Canada’s long-term strategic initiatives, Marie-Eve has accelerated the company’s business transformation, aligning our Commercial and Supply Chain functions. She drives change, helps the business adopt new behaviours and introduces disruptive thinking that has built an agile and responsive business.