Canadian supermarket giant Sobeys has closed its Calgary Ocado-powered warehouse, in a fresh blow to Ocado’s international ambitions.
Following hot on the heels of Kroger’s closure of three customer fulfilment centres (CFC) in January – which crashed Ocado’s share price by more than 20% – the Calgary closure has poured further cold water on Ocado’s hopes for growth in North America.
Ocado expects to receive £18m in compensation in the financial year because of the closure, which will reduce Ocado’s free revenue by £7m in FY26.
Sobeys, which operates more than 1,500 stores, said the decision had come because Alberta’s e-commerce market’s size and rate of expansion were slower than originally anticipated.
Instead, Sobeys will “deploy new technology” into its existing Toronto and Montreal CFCs, including an ‘Ocado Swift Router’ that will enable a higher proportion of same-day and short lead time orders to run from the CFCs.
The technology will allow Ocado-fulfilled orders to be integrated with third-party platforms, such as online rapid delivery aggregators, which have significant market share in North America’s grocery delivery market.
The Calgary cancellation followed the pause on development of Sobeys’ Vancouver CFC, where the development timeline “remains under regular review”.
Ocado signed a partnership agreement with Sobeys in January 2018 to support the Canadian retailer’s online launch using its Ocado Smart Platform.
“Sobeys is an important partner to Ocado, and we have taken a pragmatic approach to refining the network and placing our partnership on the right footing to secure long-term, sustainable growth in the Canadian market,” said Ocado Group CEO Tim Steiner.
“This has meant addressing some key challenges from early network planning decisions, in particular where the market has not developed as anticipated. It has also led to agreement on deepening our partnership in key markets.
“Online grocery in North America has continued to develop, and Ocado’s technology has evolved significantly since our first CFCs were launched in the region. The changes we have made in our relationships with both Sobeys and Kroger represent a reset of our North American business, placing those partnerships in the best position to secure long-term growth, while reopening a substantial market for Ocado’s much-evolved technology.”
Ocado’s “reset” with Kroger was announced in November 2025, when Kroger decided to close three CFCs in Maryland, Wisconsin and Florida, and cancelled plans to open a further CFC in North Carolina. Kroger has agreed to pay $350m (£253m) in a one-off cash settlement to compensate Ocado for the decision.
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