What Sunterra Market does

Sunterra Market is the retail arm of the privately held Sunterra Group, operating a vertically integrated farm-to-table grocery business headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The group spans pig genetics and farming (Sunterra Farms, founded 1970 in Acme), meat processing (Sunterra Meats in Trochu, acquired 1989), Italian cured-meat production (Soleterra d'Italia, a 2016 joint venture with Italian partner Industria Salumi Simonini operating from a 65,000 sq ft Acme facility opened in November 2018), and a chain of seven European-style markets across Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer, with restaurant concepts (COMMUNITYtable, MARKETbar, Sunterra Cellar), a full-service catering operation, and a wholesale pork business that exports approximately 70% of fresh pork production to Japan.

The retail platform serves individual consumers and corporate clients with three primary revenue streams: in-store and online grocery sales (with $8 delivery within Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer on a $50 minimum), Meals To Go prepared-food and meal-kit ordering with approximately 30-minute curbside pickup, and full-service catering delivered across the three cities. The Fresh Rewards loyalty program (free membership with a Connoisseur tier at 4,000+ points in 365 days) supports customer retention across all channels. Sourcing is anchored by roughly 450 local and Canadian suppliers alongside direct imports from one Italian cheesemaker and six U.S. suppliers.

The company is family-owned by the Price family and led by Group President Ray Price and Sunterra Market President Glen Price, with approximately 550 employees. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer through owned physical retail, owned e-commerce, and a direct catering sales operation — no third-party marketplace or wholesale-to-other-retailers channel is documented at the retail level, and no external institutional investment, private equity, or public listing is indicated.

Name

Sunterra Market

Legal name

Sunterra Quality Food Markets Inc.

Website

https://sunterramarket.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Sunterra Market is a privately held, vertically integrated Alberta-based grocery chain operating seven European-style markets in Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer, with in-house farming, meat processing, prepared foods, full-service catering, and a wholesale pork export business.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Grocery Retail

NAICS

Meat Retailers (44524), Hog and Pig Farming (11221)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Butcher Shops & Meat Markets (CRAHAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Butcher Box / DTC Meat & Seafood Delivery (AFAIANAD)

Keywords

• Grocery retail
• Fresh food markets
• Catering services
• Prepared meals
• Specialty foods

Headquarters

HQ city

Calgary

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Grocery Sales: Revenue from selling groceries, fresh produce, meat, dairy, bakery, deli, and specialty food items directly to consumers at seven Sunterra Market locations and via online ordering with delivery and curbside pickup.
2. Catering Services: Revenue from catering orders covering breakfast, trays, soups, salads, sandwiches, hors d'oeuvres, boxed meals, entrees, beverages and desserts for events from intimate gatherings to large corporate functions. Catering is made fresh at five of the nine markets.
3. Meals To Go / Prepared Foods: Revenue from hot prepared foods, make-at-home meal kits, and chef-prepared three-course feasts available for online ordering with curbside pickup.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Sunterra Market operates a chain of European-style fresh food retail markets in Alberta, Canada, offering groceries, fresh produce, meat, dairy, and prepared foods alongside Meals To Go hot meals, full-service catering for events, and a Fresh Rewards loyalty program. The company maintains a vertically integrated supply chain spanning pig genetics and farming (Sunterra Farms), meat processing (Sunterra Meats), and retail, enabling farm-to-table traceability across its seven market locations in Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer.

Product overview

Sunterra Market is an Alberta-based European-style grocery retailer operating seven markets across Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer. The company offers a multi-channel retail experience comprising online Grocery delivery and pickup, Meals To Go hot food ordering, and full-service Catering for events. Their product portfolio includes proprietary sub-brands: Soleterra d'Italia (Italian cured meats), Sunterra Farms Pork, Sunterra Meats, and Sunterra Greenhouse produce. The Fresh Rewards loyalty program powers customer engagement across all channels, while Three-Course Feasts and Cooking Classes provide enhanced dining experiences. Restaurant concepts including COMMUNITYtable, MARKETbar, and Sunterra Cellar complement the retail operations, supported by the ROOTS community program and Recipe content platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Fresh Rewards: Loyalty rewards program offering points for purchases, birthday rewards, Connoisseur status tiers, and various redemption options including cooking classes and charitable donations.
• Soleterra d'Italia
• Three-Course Feasts
• Meals To Go
• Samplebration
• ROOTS Program

Products and services

• Grocery Online and in-store grocery shopping for fresh produce, meat, dairy, bakery, deli, and specialty food items with home delivery ($8 fee, $50 minimum within city limits) and curbside pickup across Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer.
• Meals To Go Online ordering system for hot prepared foods, make-at-home meal kits, and chef-prepared Three-Course Feasts with curbside pickup in approximately 30 minutes at five locations.
• Catering Full-service catering for events ranging from intimate gatherings to large corporate functions, with menus including hot breakfasts, trays, hors d'oeuvres, boxed meals, entrees, and holiday meal packages. Catering is prepared fresh at five of the nine market locations.
• Fresh Rewards Loyalty Program Free points-based loyalty program allowing members to pay with points, convert points to dollars, redeem for cooking classes and catered meals, and receive birthday rewards, with a Connoisseur status tier requiring 4,000+ points within 365 days.
• Three-Course Feasts Chef-prepared complete meals available for grab-and-go, with menus changing monthly.
• Cooking Classes Cooking skill classes available for booking, with redemption available through Fresh Rewards loyalty points.
• Soleterra d'Italia Authentic Italian cured and cooked meats brand producing prosciutto, Modena ham, salamis, pancetta, coppa, and speck using Sunterra Farms pork and traditional Simonini family recipes, produced at a 65,000 sq ft facility in Acme, Alberta.
• COMMUNITYtable Restaurant and dining concept located at the Keynote Sunterra Market in Calgary.
• MARKETbar Restaurant and bar concept at the Keynote Sunterra Market in Calgary, featuring an Italian-style social dining experience.
• Sunterra Cellar Wine cellar concept located at the Commerce Place Sunterra Market in Edmonton.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Industria Salumi SimoninicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016A joint venture partnership between Sunterra Group (Ray Price) and Industria Salumi Simonini of Modena, Italy (Celestino and Brunella Simonini, third and fourth generation cured meat makers since 1927). The partnership produced Soleterra d'Italia, which initially imported Italian products and now produces authentic Italian cooked and dry-cured meats (prosciutto, salamis, coppa, pancetta, mortadella) in a new 65,000 sq ft facility in Acme, Alberta using Sunterra Farms pork and traditional Simonini family recipes. Simonini experts assisted in building the facility and training staff, and can monitor curing conditions remotely via mobile app.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Calgary Co-op: Member-owned grocery retailer with deep Alberta roots and multiple locations across Calgary and surrounding areas. Directly comparable as a regional Alberta grocer competing for the same household shoppers, with overlapping premium/local sourcing positioning.
• Cumbrae's: Toronto-based heritage butcher and specialty meat retailer offering premium dry-aged and prepared meats with in-store chef expertise. Comparable as a high-end butcher-led retail concept emphasizing traceability and quality — a meat-retail analog to Sunterra's butcher-driven model.
• Save-On-Foods: Western Canadian full-service grocery chain owned by Jim Pattison Group with locations across Alberta, including in Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer. Competes head-to-head with Sunterra's premium fresh and local-sourcing positioning in the same trade areas.
• Fresh St. Market: Western Canadian specialty grocer operating European-style market formats in Alberta and BC. Closely comparable to Sunterra's European-market ambiance, chef-prepared offerings, and premium fresh-meat and prepared-foods positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Loblaw Companies: Canada's largest grocer, operating banners including Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, and T&T. Sets the pricing, scale, and private-label competitive backdrop against which regional premium players like Sunterra must defend share.
• Sobeys: Second-largest Canadian grocer (Empire Company) operating Safeway, Sobeys, FreshCo, and Thrifty Foods banners. Competes with Sunterra in Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer under the Safeway banner, providing scale-driven pricing pressure.
• Thrifty Foods: BC-based full-service premium-leaning grocery chain owned by Sobeys. Comparable Western Canadian specialty-grocer positioning with prepared foods and local sourcing, but operates as part of a larger national parent's portfolio rather than a specialized niche.

Emerging players

• T&T Supermarket: Loblaw-owned Asian-specialty grocer with prepared foods, in-store chefs, and broad product assortment across Western Canada including Calgary and Edmonton. Comparable in-store chef/prepared-food concept and Canadian expansion playbook, though anchored in Asian cuisine rather than European/farm-to-table.

Regional players

• Pusateri's Fine Foods: Toronto-based premium European-style grocer with prepared foods, in-store chefs, and curated specialty offerings. Directly comparable merchandising format and customer experience, but operates in Ontario rather than Alberta.
• McEwan Fine Foods: Toronto-area premium grocer founded by celebrity chef Mark McEwan with European-market format and chef-prepared offerings. Similar upscale European-style concept targeting affluent urban shoppers, but serves a different geography than Sunterra.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SunterraMarket
• Facebookfacebook.com/sunterramarket

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sunterra Market