Open letter to Yummy Market
Five growth opportunities for an iconic Toronto Russian grocer.
September 26, 2026 · 5-minute read
I shop at Yummy Market regularly. It has such a loyal following, and it's always busy when I go. The Eastern European groceries, cooking from scratch and proper bakery give people a reason to keep coming back.
Today, that business has two homes: Dufferin & Finch in North York, and the 50,000-square-foot flagship on Major Mackenzie in Maple. The next opportunity is to make more of that food available to more people, more often.
My estimate: C$7.8 million in potential additional annual revenue across the two stores.
Opportunity 01
Add delivery
I've always been puzzled that I can't easily order my Yummy groceries online for delivery. Making a trip every time is inconvenient. Adonis is already on Instacart. Summerhill has its own online grocery shop. Yummy should be just as easy to order from.
The market is already there. In Dalhousie's Spring 2026 Canadian survey, 16% reported using grocery delivery in the previous month. Empire's e-commerce sales grew 11.3% in its latest quarter; its Voilà service carries Sobeys, Farm Boy and Longo's.
Instacart reports a US$115 average order value across its platform, including taxes, fees and tips. My estimate for Yummy uses a C$120 merchandise basket.
Potential annual revenue uplift · both stores
C$3.1 million
2 stores × 60 orders/day × C$120 × 360 days × 60% = C$3,110,400.
Assumes 60% is additional spending; 40% replaces existing purchases.
Opportunity 02
Sell to non-Russian customers
You don't need to grow up eating pelmeni to enjoy dumplings. Yummy's Russian roots are a strength. Make the food just as approachable to someone discovering it for the first time.
North York alone counted 91,310 Chinese residents, 64,075 South Asian residents and 57,085 Filipino residents in the 2021 census. That's over 212,000 people across three communities, before considering the rest of the GTA.
Show them what to buy: English dish descriptions, appetising food videos and local creators introducing their favourite finds. Sell the taste, the convenience and the dinner it solves.
A bigger audience already lives here.
North York residents · selected population groups · 2021 census
212,470 residents across these three communities.
Potential annual revenue uplift · both stores
C$2.3 million
1,500 new households × 2 visits/month × 12 months × C$65 = C$2,340,000.
Assumes 1,500 additional regular households across the two stores.
Opportunity 03
Sell Uber Eats meals to offices
The prepared-food counter can become a weekday lunch business. Put complete, ready-to-eat lunches on Uber Eats and give nearby companies an easy way to order for their teams.
Your Dufferin store is in DUKE Heights, a district with roughly 2,500 businesses and over 32,000 employees. The audience is already around you.
Uber's global Delivery gross bookings reached US$27.5 billion in Q2 2026, up 26% year over year. That includes restaurants, groceries and retail. Yummy has its own angle: a proper cooked lunch from a kitchen already making the food.
The lunch opportunity is already around you.
DUKE Heights · Dufferin store
32,000+
employees in the district
2,500
businesses
Uber Delivery · global
+26%
gross bookings year over year
Potential annual revenue uplift · both stores
C$510,000
2 stores × 60 lunches/weekday × C$20 × 250 weekdays × 85% = C$510,000.
Assumes 85% is additional spending; 15% replaces existing purchases.
Opportunity 04
Sell premade weekly meals
Turn the question 'What's for dinner?' into a weekly order: six prepared meals, delivered together. Familiar Eastern European home cooking, ready to heat.
Factor has helped establish the format. HelloFresh's ready-to-eat business, which includes Factor, generated €1.92 billion in 2025. Revenue grew 41.5% at constant currency in 2024, then fell in 2025 and the first half of 2026. The market is substantial; the offer still has to earn repeat orders.
Yummy already has the recipes, the kitchens and the brand. Package that into a weekly dinner routine.
Canadian meal-kit delivery
2018-2028 · Revenue in US$ billions · 2024 forecast
Statista · 2024 edition · Modelled data and projections
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 0.22 |
| 2019 | 0.31 |
| 2020 | 0.54 |
| 2021 | 0.8 |
| 2022 | 1.06 |
| 2023 | 1.36 |
| 2024 | 1.66 |
| 2025 | 1.99 |
| 2026 | 2.27 |
| 2027 | 2.5 |
| 2028 | 2.73 |
Potential annual revenue uplift · both stores
C$1.7 million
600 weekly households × 6 meals × C$13 × 48 weeks × 75% = C$1,684,800.
Assumes 75% is additional spending; 25% replaces existing purchases.
Opportunity 05
Sell frozen foods in bulk
Yummy already has delicious prepared food. A lot of it could work well frozen: soups, stews and dumplings, for example. Think family packs, mixed freezer boxes and a month's worth of easy dinners.
Adonis already lists a 12-piece frozen kibbeh pack. At a larger scale, Parkland agreed to acquire Canadian frozen-food retailer M&M Food Market for approximately C$322 million in 2022. Frozen food can be a substantial business in its own right.
I've seen the same habit with chefs I know: families buy food now so there's always something ready for later. Give them that convenience with Yummy's food.
Potential annual revenue uplift · both stores
C$1.1 million
3,000 households × 6 boxes/year × C$90 × 65% = C$1,053,000.
Assumes 65% is additional spending; 35% replaces existing purchases.
The opportunity is already inside the stores
Together: C$8,698,200 in potential annual revenue uplift, less a further 10% allowance for overlap between these opportunities, gives C$7,828,380 - approximately C$7.8 million.
The appeal is that Yummy already has the kitchens, the staff and the customers. Where schedules allow, quieter periods could be used to prep and pack orders. An operator would check repeat orders, kitchen capacity and profit per order after food, platform fees, packaging and extra labour.
Each opportunity needs a clear launch plan, someone accountable and a margin target. Roll them out one at a time, then put more resources behind the ones that earn repeat business and make money.
These estimates cover the two stores already in place. North York and Maple have different customer bases and delivery areas. A separate plan for each location is where the next layer of growth comes from.
Adrian Gianello, if you and your team want to compare notes, you can reach me here.
r@ruslannazyrov.com- Ruslan
These are illustrative annual revenue estimates at maturity, assuming an 18-24 month build-out across both stores. Order volumes, baskets and additional-spending shares are assumptions, not Yummy sales data. Figures are before operating costs and platform fees; sales taxes and delivery charges are excluded. They are not profit estimates or company guidance. CAD unless otherwise stated.
Unsolicited growth ideas
I love growth hacking and helping others. Every week I post one thing a real brand should test, and why it would move revenue. If you're stuck on your business, reach out.