Transcon announces launch, with Loblaws, of Juice, a 6x healthy living magazine

Transcontinental Media is launching a multi-media brand called Juice, including a 400,000 controlled circulation print magazine. The magazine, taglined "healthy living made delicious" will be delivered though Loblaw Companies Limited, with some copies mailed to selected loyal customers and the remainder sold by single copy in select Loblaw stores and other retailers. 

The initiative is to launch in April across English Canada and will be six issues a year of the full-sized magazine, a website, a daily and weekly e-letter and a tablet version plus social media presence. (It is probably not coincidental that Loblaw Cos. recently launched a new line of private brands called Presidents Choice Black Label that feature luxury products normally found at specialty gourmet stores.)

Editorial content will be developed, produced and distributed by Transcontinental Media, with the focus on providing consumers with delicious recipes and meal ideas, the latest nutrition news as well as practical health and financial advice. Pierre Marcoux, Senior VP, Business and Consumer Solutions Group at Transcontinental Media, stated [in a release]: "We are thrilled to launch an integrated media brand that will be the must-have resource for Canadians wanting to achieve a healthier lifestyle. We expect it to be one of the most innovative publishing launches the Canadian market has seen in many years".

The announcement of the launch comes in the wake of the recently announced closure of Homemakers magazine, which was heavily focussed on food and healthy eating. And everything old is new again. Loblaws carried an upscale, full-sized contract published magazine called Presidents Choice in the late-'90s, created by Zaxis Publishing of Toronto. The idea was to duplicate the success of the Sainsbury magazine in Britain, but PC only lasted a few years.