The President's Choice® The Decadent® Chocolate Chip Cookie turns 25!

About a third of Prince Edward Islanders eat more than one cookie a day*, survey says

CHARLOTTETOWN, May 8, 2013 /CNW/ - (TSX:L) One of Canada's most iconic treats, the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Chocolate Chip Cookie turns 25 this year!  To mark the occasion, the team behind President's Choice^® have created a special limited edition The Decadent^® cookie tin and filled it with two 300 gram bags of cookies. They also asked Canadians about their cookie cravings - the survey results are just as fascinating as the history of President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Chocolate Chip Cookie.   Finally, later this year many new tasty treats inspired by our customers love for the Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie will hit store shelves - stay tuned!

Hurry in to grocery stores like Atlantic Superstore^® and SaveEasy^® locations in Prince Edward Island to pick up the limited edition tin.

The History of the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Chocolate Chip Cookie

In 1987, the team behind the President's Choice^® brand set out on a mission to create the best, homemade tasting chocolate chip cookie. After hundreds of hours of taste testing, they ultimately created the rich and crumbly cookie made with fresh creamy butter and the maximum number of chocolate chips that could be crammed in. Twenty-five years later, the recipe remains the same.

"We knew we had found our cookie when our experts couldn't get enough and exclaimed "they're beyond good, they're totally DECADENT!!," says Paul Uys, the lead product developer in 1987.  "We all agreed that the cookie absolutely had to be named as such and we had one of the best President's Choice^® products ever created."

The President's Choice^® Cookie Survey*: Read how the cookie crumbles in each province

• Late night delight- Half of Prince Edward Islanders like to eat cookies whenever they can get their hands on them along with 38 per cent of Albertans, compared to half of Ontarians and 66 per cent of Quebecers who like eating their cookies as a midnight treat. And, 15 per cent of Prince Edward Islanders and New Brunswickers like to eat their cookies during happy hour, compared to eight per cent of Saskatchewanians and 14 per cent of Manitobans who like eating their cookies for breakfast. The survey found that about half of Canadians like eating their cookies as a late night snack.
• Beverage of choice- About six out of 10 Prince Edward Islanders, Nova Scotians, Manitobans, British Columbians and Ontarians prefer to eat their cookies with tea and coffee, whereas five out of 10 Albertans and Quebecers prefer to eat their cookies with a cold glass of milk and about one out of four New Brunswickers enjoy their cookies with pop or juice. Almost six out of 10 Canadians prefer to drink tea or coffee with their cookies.
• Watch out for crumbs- Almost half Prince Edward Islanders eat their cookies anywhere they can, compared to roughly half of Albertans and Saskatchewanians, Nova Scotians, British Columbians and Ontarians who like to eat their cookies in the kitchen. Eighteen per cent of Albertans like to eat their cookies in bed, along with 30 per cent of New Brunswickers who like to eat their cookies at work. As a whole, 52 per cent of Canadians like to eat their cookies in the kitchen.
• Cookie lovers- Over a third of Prince Edward Islanders eat more than one cookie a day, compared to half of Quebecers who eat more than one cookie a day and half of Ontarians who eat less than one cookie a day. Overall in Canada, almost half of Canadians eat less than one cookie a day.
• Chocolate chip mania- Fifty per cent of Prince Edward Islanders say that chocolate chip cookies are their favourite kind of cookie, compared to 38 per cent of Newfoundlanders, 49 per cent of New Brunswickers and 42 per cent of Saskatchewanians. Canadians as a whole prefer chocolate chip, as 45 per cent of Canadians say that they prefer chocolate chip.
• The more chocolate, the better- Of those who have tried the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® cookies, 50 per cent of Prince Edward Islanders along with 47 per cent of Albertans say that the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Chocolate Chunk Cookie is their favourite kind of President's Choice^® cookie compared to 41 per cent of New Brunswickers and Saskatchewanians that prefer the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Chocolate Chip Cookie. Nova Scotia, compared to any other province, prefers the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Peanut Butter cookie at 22 per cent. Overall, 45 per cent of Canadians preferred the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Keeping it in the family- Of those who have tried the President's Choice^® Cookies, 15 per cent of Newfoundlanders were introduced to the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Cookies by a friend, compared to 19 per cent of Ontarians who were introduced to the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Cookie by a parent, and four per cent of Albertans who were introduced to the President's Choice^® The Decadent^® Cookie by a grandparent.
  

Survey Method

*Vision Critical conducted an online survey on March 20, 2013 among 1,567 randomly selected Canadians aged 18+ across all provinces who have consumed a cookie in the past 6 months, and who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada.  Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

About Loblaw Companies LimitedTSX:L

Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is Canada's largest food retailer and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ more than 134,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control (private) label program, including the unique President's Choice®, no name® and Joe Fresh® brands. In addition, the Company makes available to consumers President's Choice Financial® services and offers the PC® points loyalty program.

SOURCE: Loblaw Companies Limited

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