Loblaw Companies Limited sets new Guinness World Records® title at the PC® BBQTown Grand Prize Event in Chatham-Kent

World Record set as 1,053 hamburgers are assembled in one hour

BRAMPTON, ON, Aug. 13, 2012 /CNW/ - (TSX:L) - Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) announced today that they became the new official world record holder for the most hamburgers assembled in one hour, as declared by a Guinness World Records^® adjudicator.  As the grand prize winners of the President's Choice® BBQTown event, Chatham-Kent residents cheered on as the new world record was set. Officially, 1,053 hamburgers were assembled.

On the day of the event, 12 members of the Chatham community helped to assemble the burgers for the world record. The team consisted of Mayor Randy Hope, No Frills Store Franchisees Dean Mills and Barb Mills, Real Canadian Superstore manager, Al Scott, Loblaw Grocery Specialist, Rick Rumble and store colleagues as well as representatives from Chatham EMS, fire and police teams. A complete burger consisted of bun: top and bottom, patty, lettuce, tomato, onion and a dollop of ketchup.

"Today was a memorable day for Loblaw and our colleagues, as well as the residents of Chatham-Kent. It was an overwhelming experience to celebrate this achievement with the Chatham-Kent community," said Allan Lindsay, vice-president of Brand Marketing, Loblaw Companies Limited. "The spirit of the President's Choice® BBQTown event was to showcase amazing communities, Canadians' love of barbecuing, and summer entertaining with family and friends and we are thrilled to have had the support from Chatham-Kent to achieve this official Guinness World Records^®title."

The President's Choice® BBQTown grand prize event in Chatham-Kent's included a massive BBQ party with fantastic food and electrifying entertainment. Hosted by Chef Tom Filippou, executive chef for President's Choice® Cooking Schools and host of Food Network Canada's World's Weirdest Restaurants, Bob Blumer, the President's Choice^® BBQTown event welcomed over 8,700 Chatham-Kent residents. These residents enjoyed free BBQ fare and an appearance by multi-platinum, JUNO award winning recording group Hedley. As part of the event, a $25,000 donation was presented to the Chatham-Kent Student Nutrition Program on behalf of the President's Choice® Children's Charity.

"It was exciting for us to be involved in setting the new Guinness World Records^® title for the most hamburgers assembled in one hour as the grand prize winner in the President's Choice^® BBQTown event," said Mayor Randy Hope, Chatham-Kent. "We are proud that our community rallied together and showed such amazing spirit in the face of stiff competition against hundreds of great communities that were nominated to win the grand prize."

Chatham-Kent was first selected as a semi-finalist from a panel of judges and ultimately won the grand prize after receiving the most votes online from their community. Secondary winners included Fredericton NB, Hampton NB, Mississauga ON, Orangeville ON, St. Thomas ON, Strathmore AB, Sturgeon Falls ON, Sudbury ON, Truro NS.

About Loblaw Companies Limited:
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 135,000 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.

Image with caption: "Loblaw Companies Limited sets new Guinness World Records® title at the PC® BBQTown Grand Prize Event in Chatham-Kent (CNW Group/Loblaw Companies Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20120813_C6559_PHOTO_EN_16831.jpg

SOURCE: Loblaw Companies Limited