A single Off-Take Agreement across all six Metro Inc. banners, with SKU mix and volumes confirmed by banner. Decision-in-principle sought at Metro's pace, anchored to the first container arriving Port of Montréal July 12, 2026 and processing at MERCATO immediately on arrival.

Sweet Red Galmi — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)–recognized West African heirloom sweet onion. Same mild, sweet, approachable flavour profile as Vidalia, with a red colour story, year-round single-origin supply, and a Canadian trademark held by Westbridge Ranch. No Canadian competitor; not subject to retaliatory tariffs on US produce.

A single wholesale of CAD $2.80/kg across the network, held firm under the Off-Take. Shrink modeled explicitly — 12.5% loose, 8% sealed pack — not waved off.

1. 365-day single-origin supply via three staggered harvests across Senegal River Valley and Oti River Valley
2. Captive production — Westbridge Ranch owns and operates the fields directly across three countries
3. 225 MT in curing today, 800 MT projected by end of June 2026 — supply in hand, not a forecast
4. Dual compliance — Westbridge Ranch CFIA-authorized and fully compliant; Emballages Mercato dual-certified PrimusGFS + CFIA across Pie-IX and Anjou
5. Banner-specific go-to-market — SKU mix tuned to each banner's shopper, not a one-size shelf-set

Confirm banner-by-banner SKU selection and volumes → execute Off-Take Agreement → first PO confirmed against July arrival → shelf-set by Metro buyer window. Full ask and timeline detailed in Section 8.

Westbridge Ranch is pleased to present this commercial proposal for the introduction of Sweet Red Galmi across Metro Inc.'s six banners. Sweet Red Galmi is a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)-recognized West African heirloom onion variety, grown by Westbridge Ranch in the Senegal River Valley and the Oti River Valley. It is sweet, mild, and visually distinctive — serving the same customer need as Vidalia sweet onions, with a colour, a provenance, and a supply continuity that no North American variety can offer.

This proposal is designed to work across Metro Inc.'s full banner portfolio — from the premium and specialty tier at Metro, Adonis, and 5 Saisons, to the discount growth banners at Super C and Food Basics where Metro Inc. is currently concentrating its capital investment. Sweet Red Galmi is not a premium-only product seeking a specialty shelf. It is a year-round, tariff-free, single-origin supply solution that serves Metro's entire network and commands a premium where the banner supports it.

Westbridge Ranch holds the registered trademark on the Galmi name in Canada. No competitor can grow this variety and bring it to the Canadian market as Galmi.

Two complementary SKUs are proposed: a loose bulk format shelving at $6.89/kg at premium banners and at $5.49–$5.99/kg at discount banners, and a premium gift-style 6-count carry-pack (1.36 kg / 3 lb) — a plastic-free kraft carrier with origin storytelling printed on the panel — at $9.99 per pack ($7.35/kg shelf-equivalent) for the produce-engaged shopper at Adonis, 5 Saisons, and the premium Metro locations. The carry-pack is deliberately priced +6.6% above the loose shelf — format premium confirmed, not category whitespace. Both SKUs are available for forward order. First shipment sails June 18, 2026, with Port of Montréal arrival July 12, 2026 and PrimusGFS processing at MERCATO on arrival.

The economics below sit on a single wholesale of CAD $2.80/kg held firm across all six banners under the Off-Take Agreement. Shrink is modeled explicitly — 12.5% on loose, 8% on sealed pack — not assumed away. Because supply is captive (Westbridge Ranch owns and operates the fields across the Oti River Valley in Northern Togo and the Senegal River Valley), Metro is insulated from spot-market commodity volatility. Premium banners take ~47% on the shelf; discount banners trade margin for tariff-arbitrage velocity against US Vidalia bulk.

1,500 kg pallet · Wholesale $2.80/kg · Pallet wholesale cost $4,200 · Shrink modeled explicitly

Discount tier (Super C · Food Basics): loose at $5.49–$5.99/kg shelf on the same $2.80/kg wholesale → Metro gross profit per pallet $3,006–$3,662 · 36–41%. Margin compresses against the premium tier but is held up by a durable, policy-structural tariff arbitrage: US Vidalia carries Canada's retaliatory tariff load, Galmi does not, and that spread is not a promotional event.

The observations below draw on 26 months of continuous biweekly pricing intelligence collected across 11 major Canadian grocery chains — Metro, Loblaws, Costco, Safeway, Sobeys, Save-On Foods, Avril, Walmart, and Whole Foods — in Montréal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Metro Inc. banner stores — Metro, Metro Plus, Food Basics, and Super C — in Ottawa, Kanata, Barrhaven, and Gatineau were most recently visited May 31 and June 2, 2026.

The sweet onion category across every major Canadian grocery chain monitored is served by a single origin: Georgia, USA. The Vidalia certification applies exclusively to onions grown within a defined production area in Georgia, with a primary harvest window from May through August. Supply outside that window draws on Peruvian and Mexican origins to maintain year-round shelf continuity, while retaining the Vidalia brand name. This pattern holds without exception across all 11 chains surveyed. American sweet onions are currently subject to Canada's retaliatory tariffs on American produce imports — a sourcing risk that did not exist eighteen months ago.

* Spring/summer rate. The established seasonal band runs $5.49/kg May–September, rising to $6.49/kg October–May, based on 2025–2026 Metro Inc. observations.

Loose red onions across Metro Inc. banners are priced at an established seasonal band: $5.49/kg in spring and summer, rising to $6.49/kg from October through May — a pattern observed consistently across 2025 and 2026. The bagged red format is handled by Dutch imports and Canadian product. In the Montréal market, Adonis carries a Québec-origin jumbo red at $6.59/kg and Avril carries a certified organic red at $6.59/kg — the current ceiling for any red onion across the Metro Inc. banner set.

* Spring/summer rate. October–May rate: $6.49/kg, based on 2025–2026 Metro Inc. observations. Galmi carry-pack at $7.35/kg sits +12% above the current ceiling — justified by named-variety / single-origin / FAO-recognized heirloom credentials carried by no other SKU in the set, and presented in a gift-style format that no competitor offers.

The Adonis / Food Basics co-location is not only a banner-architecture artefact. It is a demographic capture pattern — and the two cohorts it captures are the two fastest-growing visible-minority cohorts in both of Metro Inc.'s home metros. Store visits across the Ottawa-Gatineau NCR (May–June 2026) and the Greater Montréal Area (SIAL Canada forum store-tour cycle, April 2025 — Anjou, Saint-Léonard, Laval, Brossard, West Island, Place Versailles) returned the same observational pattern in both markets: Adonis trades visibly North African / Levantine / MENA; Food Basics next door trades visibly African / Caribbean; the conventional Metro / Loblaw mainstream banners trade visibly Anglo / Franco mainstream.

The strategic consequence is direct. African, Caribbean, and MENA populations are the three fastest-growing visible-minority cohorts in both the Ottawa-Gatineau and Greater Montréal CMAs per Statistics Canada intercensal estimates — the cohorts the Adonis + Food Basics pairing already over-indexes against, and the cohorts the mainstream Metro and Loblaw banners structurally under-index against. A Galmi launch sequenced through these two banners is not a niche play; it is a launch sequenced through the demographic growth curve.

Why this matters for sequencing: a banner exclusive sequenced Adonis-first (Montréal) and Food Basics-first (Ottawa) compounds on a demographic curve Metro Inc. is structurally well-positioned to capture and Loblaw / Sobeys are structurally weaker against. Section 6 sequences against this directly.

Sweet Red Galmi enters as a SKU of its own — redefining the onion category. The premium gift-style 6-count carry-pack — a plastic-free kraft carrier, not a mesh bag — is priced +6.6% above the loose shelf, a deliberate, verifiable format premium. This is not a "category whitespace" thesis — it is a single, named-variety, single-origin SKU carrying credentials that nothing else on the Metro Inc. onion set carries (FAO-recognized heirloom variety, registered Canadian trademark, captive-source supply across three production geographies), presented in a format the produce wall has not seen for the onion category. The carry-pack justifies its $7.35/kg shelf because it is sequenced behind those credentials and that format — the buyer encounters the story, then the pack, then the price.

The Galmi loose format enters the sweet onion tier on flavour, origin, and visual distinction — working across every banner from Super C to Metro Plus. The carry-pack enters only where the customer base already self-selects for provenance — Adonis, 5 Saisons, and the produce-engaged Metro and Metro Plus locations (Section 6). At banners where the cippolini and named-shallot customer already buys at comparable per-gram pricing, the carry-pack is low-risk. It is not proposed at Super C or Food Basics.

Why this matters for sequencing: the loose-led ON wall takes Galmi loose first; the bag-led QC wall is where the gift-style carry-pack at Adonis / 5 Saisons earns its premium. Section 6 sequences against this split rather than treating the Metro network as uniform.

The build below is paced to GALMI's captive supply schedule and Mercato's processing capacity expansion — not to the size of the Metro network. Year 1 is a true pilot. The Anjou hub (47,000 sq ft, Unitec 4-lane AI-graded line) is commissioned in Q4 2026 and goes operational in Q1 2027 — anchoring the Year 2 step-up in throughput and carry-pack format maturity. Year 3 adds IQF Phase 2 inventory buffer, opening off-season velocity and lifting per-door economics as the carry-pack scales into the produce-engaged customer base. Each milestone is capitalised and on the operating calendar.

Blended take-home per pallet ~$4,900 — weighted across premium loose ($4,843), premium carry-pack ($5,337), and discount loose ($3,006–$3,662). All four figures sit on the same single wholesale (CAD $2.80/kg) and the same explicit shrink assumptions (12.5% loose / 8% carry-pack). The Yr 2 → Yr 3 step is driven by carry-pack format mix maturity and the Anjou IQF buffer opening off-season velocity — not by door count alone. Door counts represent active Galmi-listed locations, not total network footprint.

Vidalia is a seasonal crop by nature. Its Georgia harvest runs May through August; the rest of the year draws on Peruvian and Mexican origins. Galmi is grown across two distinct valleys at different latitudes in West Africa, producing three independent harvests per year:

For a fresh produce operation managing multiple banners, year-round supply from a single named origin means consistent shelf positioning — the same SKU, the same provenance story, the same product across all twelve months.

The Galmi onion is recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as a West African heirloom variety of documented agricultural heritage. This recognition attaches to the variety itself — to the seed, the genetics, the growing tradition — not to any single farm or certification scheme. It cannot be acquired by a competitor; it can only be grown and brought to market authentically.

Westbridge Ranch holds the registered trademark on the Galmi name in Canada. Any competitor wishing to sell this variety in Canada must do so under a different name — forfeiting the provenance signal entirely.

We are proposing a two-SKU entry into Metro Inc.'s onion category — designed to perform across the full banner portfolio. The loose format serves the sweet onion customer at every price tier, from Super C and Food Basics through to Metro and Metro Plus, with a tariff-free, year-round origin that no American supplier can match today. The gift-style 6-count carry-pack reaches the provenance-led customer at Adonis, 5 Saisons, and the premium Metro locations — the customer who already reaches for cippolini, organic shallots, and named-variety produce.

A single wholesale price serves the full banner portfolio. Premium banners (Metro, Metro Plus, Adonis, 5 Saisons) shelve Galmi loose at $6.89/kg — sitting deliberately above the current $6.59/kg red-onion ceiling on FAO-recognized variety credentials. Discount banners (Super C, Food Basics) shelve at $5.49–$5.99/kg, directly competitive with US Vidalia bulk but tariff-free and captive-supplied. Same wholesale, same SKU, different shelf — premium banners take ~47% margin, discount banners trade margin for tariff-arbitrage velocity at the banners where Metro is investing growth capital.

Discount-tier margin is held up by a durable, policy-structural tariff arbitrage — not a promotional event. US Vidalia carries Canada's retaliatory tariff load; Galmi does not. The spread is regulatory, not seasonal. Wholesale held firm under the Off-Take Agreement (Section 8).

This SKU launches at the premium tier only. Pack configuration is a 6-count, 1.36 kg (3 lb) plastic-free kraft carry-pack with a die-cut handle and origin storytelling printed on the panel — a gift-style format, not a mesh bag. Sized for the produce-engaged shopper who already reaches for cippolini, organic shallots, and named-variety packs at comparable per-gram pricing. The pack carries a +6.6% per-kg premium over the loose shelf — a verifiable, deliberate format premium that confirms the SKU's standalone identity. Banner-specific sequencing (Section 6) places the carry-pack at 5 Saisons and Adonis where the willing-to-pay customer self-selects, secondary at Metro and Metro Plus, and not at all at Super C / Food Basics. Shrink at 8% reflects protected, in-pack handling.

Bag runs on the same single wholesale ($2.80/kg) across both formats — one price, two SKUs.

Onion pricing across Metro Inc. banners follows an established seasonal pattern — lower in spring and summer, higher from October through May. The $6.89/kg premium-tier shelf reflects current spring/summer conditions; an Oct–May seasonal rate of $7.49–$7.89/kg is consistent with the band observed across 26 months of monitoring. Galmi's November/December Senegal River Valley harvest delivers fresh, single-origin supply precisely at the highest-value window — and the Year 3 IQF Phase 2 reserve (Mercato Anjou) extends that pricing window further into the off-season.

The framework below is intended as a working baseline, not a take-it-or-leave-it. We've structured it to minimize onboarding friction on Metro's side and remain open to shaping every line around category and DC realities.

The ladder below represents the onion price architecture observed across Metro Inc. and Loblaws banners during May and June 2026, ranked by retail price per kilogram descending. Your Independent Grocer (YIG) — a premium Loblaws banner — is included as a direct competitive reference. The 26-month monitoring program confirms that the spread between the commodity floor and the premium ceiling has held without compression since April 2024. Sweet Red Galmi's proposed entry introduces two tiers above the current $6.59/kg ceiling — the loose at +4.5% above ceiling, and the 6-ct gift-style carry-pack at +11.5% above ceiling as the format-premium SKU.

One wholesale price across the network. Two SKUs. Two banner tiers. The table below collapses the full economic stack — wholesale, shelf, shrink, and Metro gross profit per pallet — into a single view. Volumes and totals reflect the staged ramp described in Section 3 (Year 1 pilot → Year 3 IQF maturity), paced to captive supply and Mercato commissioning, not to network footprint.

All four lines sit on the same single delivered onion wholesale of CAD $2.80/kg, 1,500 kg pallet, explicit shrink. Margin % is shown on gross retail sales basis (1,500 kg × shelf $/kg) — matching the figures quoted in the Metro one-pager leave-behind. The carry-pack adds a kraft-carrier pack-out of roughly $0.40/kg (≈ $0.55 per 1.36 kg pack), shown explicitly in the pallet-cost column. Discount-tier margin is held up by a durable, policy-structural tariff arbitrage against US Vidalia — not promo.

Blended GP per pallet (~$4,900) is weighted across premium loose, premium carry-pack, and discount loose at the proposed mix. The Yr 2 → Yr 3 step is driven by carry-pack format mix maturity and the Anjou IQF buffer opening off-season velocity — not by door count alone. Door counts represent active Galmi-listed locations, not total network footprint.

The same product positions differently across Metro Inc.'s banner architecture. A single Off-Take Agreement (OTA) covers all six banners, with SKU selection and retail pricing calibrated to each banner's customer profile.

The Off-Take Agreement covers all six banners, but Year 1 listings sequence into four anchor doors in a deliberate order — each chosen for the lowest-risk sentence a category manager can defend internally.

Galmi is grown across two distinct growing valleys at different latitudes in West Africa — the Senegal River Valley and the Oti River Valley — producing three independent harvests per year. The practical result is consistent, single-origin supply across all twelve months.

Year-round availability means consistent shelf positioning — the same SKU, the same origin story, the same product across all twelve months.

The first shipment is not a forecast. Inventory is already harvested, cleaned, and at curing stations in our Northern Togo warehouse today. Production is captive — Westbridge Ranch Canada owns and operates the fields directly across three countries; this is vertically integrated supply, not commodity procurement from third-party vendors.

A category buyer evaluating a new West African origin will ask, correctly, what happens if any single link in the chain breaks. Three risks merit explicit treatment. Each is addressed at the structural level, not by assertion.

A 120-day post-harvest shelf life is what allows three annual harvests — combined with the Northern Togo buffer warehouse bridging the H1 (Apr/May) cycle into Montréal retail — to deliver 365-day single-origin supply. It is not a claim — it is the product of a specific curing protocol, an unbroken cold chain from West Africa to Pie-IX, and verified intake QC at every transfer point.

Shopper marketing, digital assets, and category education for Sweet Red Galmi are Westbridge Ranch's cost and responsibility. Metro Inc. is not asked to contribute MDF, co-op advertising dollars, or in-store labour against this program. The program is purpose-built as a demand-pull mechanism — driving the shopper to the shelf so the loose and carry-pack SKUs turn at the rates the per-pallet economics assume.

Sweet Red Galmi enters the Metro family of banners in two waves. Year 1 concentrates the bag (carry-pack) format at the banners whose shopper demographics and basket behaviour are the strongest natural fit, and runs loose-format listing across Metro, Metro Plus, and Adonis plus one Super C corridor as the tariff-arbitrage proof point — sized to the ~470-pallet Pie-IX envelope. Year 2 extends the bag format into Metro and Metro Plus on the strength of measured Year 1 velocity — not on assumption — and rolls discount-tier loose to the full Super C + Food Basics corridor as Anjou Unitec lifts throughput to the ~900-pallet envelope.

The sequencing is supply-chain-driven, not commercial caution. Every door in Year 1 is a door we can service reliably with the Pie-IX envelope; nothing is held back for want of conviction.

First shipment sails June 18, 2026. Arrival at Port of Montréal expected July 12, 2026. Processing at MERCATO, Place des Producteurs, commences immediately on arrival.

We would welcome a conversation about which banners and formats make the most sense as a starting point, preferred shelf positioning, and any supplier onboarding requirements on Metro Inc.'s side. We are ready to move at whatever pace works for the category team.

We propose a single Off-Take Agreement covering all six Metro Inc. banners, with SKU selection, volumes, and retail pricing confirmed by banner as part of the commercial discussion.

Primary contact: Westbridge Ranch Canada, operating as Galmi Inc. · 613 · 302 · 5321 · www.westbridgeranch.ca