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Sobeys Inc.’s parent company swears it won’t botch the customer experience at Farm Boy, the Ontario-based grocer it acquired Monday in an $800-million deal that will bolster its presence in the province’s key markets amid a growing demand for fresh food.

Industry players reacted positively to the deal, which comes midway through Empire Co. Ltd.’s three-year plan to clean up the troubled integration of Safeway, the Western Canada-based chain it bought for $5.8 billion in 2013. But Farm Boy customers worried what impact the new corporate ownership would have on the product quality and local feel that drew them to the stores — and their associated private-label brand — in the first place.

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“I swear to god, Sobeys if you screw up Farm Boy, hometown or no, you will be dead to me,” Twitter user Shannon M. posted Monday, her sentiment echoed by dozens of concerned customers.

“I can assure you that we will not screw this up,” Empire and Sobeys chief executive Michael Medline said on a conference call with analysts Monday after quoting the tweet.