Community & Cultural Food • Published 2026-11-01
Finding a Taste of Home Should Be Easier
Why easy and efficient online discovery matters for immigrant communities—and the businesses serving them
For anyone who has lived away from home, food quickly becomes more than food. A familiar spice blend, a particular brand of rice, a childhood snack, a festive sweet, a specific cut of meat, a tea your family always kept in the kitchen—these are not small things. They carry memory, comfort, routine, and identity.
That is why searching for familiar food in a new city or country can feel surprisingly personal. And yet, for millions of people across Canada and the United States, finding those products is still harder than it should be.
Food Is One of the First Ways People Rebuild a Sense of Home
When people move to a new place, they adjust to many things at once: new systems, new commutes, new weather, new routines, and sometimes a new language or professional environment. Amid all that change, food is often one of the fastest ways to feel grounded again.
Both Canada and the United States have large and growing immigrant and diaspora populations. In Canada, Statistics Canada reported that more than 8.3 million people—almost one-quarter (23.0%) of the population—were, or had ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents in 2021. Over the longer term, Statistics Canada projects that immigrants could represent between 29.1% and 34.0% of Canada’s population by 2041.
In the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the foreign-born population reached 46.2 million in 2022, representing 13.9% of the total population, with double-digit foreign-born shares in the populations of 15 states.
The Problem Usually Isn’t Supply. It’s Discovery.
In many cities and towns across North America, the products people are looking for are already on a shelf somewhere nearby. They may be in an independent grocer, a cultural supermarket, a neighborhood convenience store, a specialty butcher, a bakery, or a small family-run food shop just a few kilometres away.
The real challenge is that customers often have no easy way to know which store carries the item, whether it is currently in stock, or whether there is a closer option they have never heard of.
Why We Built Cormersi
Cormersi was built around a simple belief: finding familiar products—and the local stores that carry them—should be much easier.
Our goal is to help connect customers and local merchants through a shared discovery experience. For shoppers, that means a simpler way to search for the products and stores that fit their everyday needs, traditions, and tastes. For businesses, it means an easier path to online visibility without needing to build everything from scratch on their own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it hard to find cultural and specialty groceries online in Canada and the US?
Most cultural and specialty food products are stocked by independent neighborhood grocers that lack searchable product-level online catalogs. As a result, shoppers cannot easily verify which nearby store carries a specific brand, spice, or ingredient without visiting multiple stores in person.
How large is the immigrant population driving demand for cultural foods in North America?
According to Statistics Canada, more than 8.3 million people (23.0% of Canada’s population) were landed immigrants in 2021, projected to reach 29.1% to 34.0% by 2041. In the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a foreign-born population of 46.2 million (13.9% of the population) in 2022.
How does Cormersi help local ethnic grocers get discovered online?
Cormersi provides independent supermarkets and specialty food retailers with a digital storefront, searchable product catalog, and optional Click & Collect or local delivery for a flat $49 CAD/month subscription and 0% order commission.