---
title: "BC Greens commit to public grocery chain with 20 stores at 30 per cent below market prices"
description: "The BC Green Party is proposing a publicly owned grocery chain called Green Grocers, with 20 locations and a distribution hub funded by $100 million in provincial money, Daily Hive reported on October 19."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/bc-greens-emily-lowan-public-grocery-chain-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-20T06:25:46.209Z"
---

The BC Green Party is proposing a publicly owned grocery chain called Green Grocers, with 20 locations and a distribution hub funded by $100 million in provincial money. Daily Hive reported the plan on October 19, 2026 in an article by Kenneth Chan.

According to Daily Hive's reporting, the party says prices on a core basket of goods at the stores would be 30 per cent below market levels. [Emily Lowan](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/emily-lowan) is the leader of the BC Green Party and the party's candidate for Saanich North and the Islands. The figures come from the party's own announcement, as reported by Daily Hive.

## What the party is proposing

Daily Hive reported that the BC Greens say the $100 million in upfront provincial funding would cover 20 store locations and a distribution hub. The party did not say where the 20 stores would be located or when they would open, according to the Daily Hive report.

The party says the distribution system would require 30 per cent of goods to come from locally produced food, and that it would supply grocery stores, schools, and hospitals, according to Daily Hive.

The party quoted in the Daily Hive article: "The BC Greens are determined to change this system, to break up the oligopolies." That quotation comes from Daily Hive's reporting.

## The precedents the party cites

Daily Hive reported that the BC Greens point to the BC Liquor Distribution Branch, which operates about 200 publicly owned liquor stores in the province, as a precedent for a government-run retail network.

The party also referenced a similar proposal by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose first publicly owned grocery store is reported to open by the end of 2027, according to Daily Hive.

## What the report does not include

Daily Hive's article does not report a response from the BC NDP or the BC Conservatives to the proposal. The article does not say how the 20 store locations would be chosen or how long it would take to open all 20.

Daily Hive noted that Statistics Canada found food store net profit margins ranged from 1.5 to 2.3 per cent before the pandemic and from 2.4 to 3.8 per cent in 2021 to 2022.

## What voters can do

The full list of BC Green Party candidates is at [/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-green-party](/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-green-party). General voting day is October 24, 2026. Advance voting runs until October 21.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/provincial-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.