Neil Clayton, a manager and owner of the family-owned Claytons Heritage Market in Sechelt, says while shopping Canadian is a worthwhile cause, it can also be complicated and even confusing.
“Some are easy, because they already have flags on the label, but some are difficult because there's Canadian content in a lot of the USA products,” says Clayton. “So, is it Canadian or is it American? We don't want to be steering people in the wrong direction.”
The subject became a talking point across the country this past weekend, when American President Donald Trump was hours away from starting a trade war with Canada, after announcing the US would be imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods exported to that country.
On Monday, Feb. 3, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Trump twice, before an agreement was made to pause the tariffs for 30 days, so long as Canada committed to several actions, including a pledge to inject millions more into border security.
Coast Reporter spoke with grocery stores before the tariffs were paused.
Clayton says the subject of Canadian goods has been a hot topic with customers since Trump made his initial threat, but he reiterated it’s not always black and white.
“You know, a senior government official suggested that maybe [American-owned] Heinz Ketchup wasn't the thing to buy, yet, my understanding is they employ people in Quebec and they say they're the biggest purchaser of Canadian tomatoes,” said Clayton. “So, we want to be a little careful on how we identify things.”
He adds it’s the same with salad dressings. While a dressing might be packaged in the U.S., the main ingredient it uses, canola oil, could likely be from Saskatchewan. Old Dutch potato chips are considered Canadian, while Lays are not, despite the fact Lays often uses Canadian potatoes and spices.
“It's a little difficult. It's easier with produce and we always mark ‘country of origin’ on the produce. And, all our beef is Canadian, unless it's specified otherwise, which is very, very rare,” said Clayton. “I've reached out to my suppliers, some of them who have other stores, and asked, can you give me a list? Because I'm a little nervous about putting up certain [Canadian flag stickers] because they might steer people away from products that might be more Canadian than the one I'm labelling.”
He adds, once Claytons has a list of properly labelled, Canadian-made products, the store will clearly mark them and make them easier for customers to find. A quick walk around Claytons Market on Monday morning showed many Canadian-made products, which are already clearly marked with a Canadian flag, including Hawkins Cheezies. In fact, in under 10 minutes, Clayton was able to fill a large cart with products, which were defined as 100 per cent Canadian.
He notes, it’s likely the price of some items will go up, but he doesn’t think that will come as a big surprise to anyone following the news.
“I think a lot of people know that there are market factors that affect people's buying decisions too. Certainly, we already know produce prices fluctuate a lot, but we'll be making an effort, in some cases, that if we need to pay a little bit more to get a Mexican tomato rather than an American tomato this week, you might just have to do that,” said Clayton. “I think it's important as a nation that we send the message. Mr. Trump had his message and now we've got ours. I don't know if it's ironic or not but it took Mr. Trump to convince Canadians that maybe they should be supporting Canadian products.
Derek Bland, manager of IGA Wilson Creek, says while the store’s staff is also highlighting Canadian-made products by adding maple-leaf flag stickers, he plans to create some Canada-specific displays, complete with full-size flags.
He notes Canadian-made products have been a topic of conversation with customers making inquiries.
He agrees Hawkins Cheezies and French’s Ketchup are two products most recognized for their Canadian roots — and which will be displayed prominently at the store. He adds, customers should start looking for displays promoting Canadian goods starting this Friday, Feb. 7.
“I’ve got to go through a list still and make some decisions, but yeah, we're going to be promoting them big time,” says Bland.
Dave Diether, operations specialist at SuperValu Gibsons, agrees and says he and that store’s staff have also had many inquiries from customers regarding Canadian products.
“That was kind of the topic of the day, yesterday. People were poking around wondering, ‘How do I know?’” said Diether. “Because it's deceptive, the way that they package stuff, too. A lot of the time, you look and it may be packaged in Canada but it ultimately may not actually be a Canadian product. So, what we're really trying to do, is just make it easy for people to identify them on the shelf.”
He notes, they’ve also started compiling a list of items made fully in Canada, but he agrees it’s complicated. For example, while French’s Ketchup is made in Canada, French’s mustard is not.
Diether added, the store had been hearing rumours about the tariffs for months prior to Trump’s announcement this past weekend.
“But we were all, I think, kind of hoping it wasn't going to materialize. So, given what has now occurred, we're just kind of digging down and starting to figure out what we can implement and how we can identify what is Canadian in the store,” said Diether. “We started going around and putting up little Canadian flag markers on the shelf to just kind of draw the eye. And we're also starting to go to kind of a higher level and just really try to get Canadian alternatives wherever possible, in juices and chips, you name it, if there's something Canadian on the market that we can bring in and replace an American brand with, we're doing our best to do that as well.”
Diether is confident the store will be able to find alternative products for all American items. Besides American products, SuperValu Gibsons works with importers who deal in goods from Southeast Asia, including Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
He agrees there will likely be a rise in the cost of some groceries, at least initially.
“But what we really hope to do, is just try to minimize the amounts of products that we're bringing in and putting out the doors that are coming from the United States,” said Diether. “So, if we can sell a Canadian option or a European option for a comparable price, then that's what we’re going to do. Our goal is to try to source products and do it in a way where, at the end of the day, if there is some cost to the consumer, it's not a 25 per cent. It will be as minimal as we can make it.”
Diether believes the threat of tariffs has been a real wake-up call for many people.
“For a lot of people, this isn't a matter of, let's just kind of wait for this to blow over and for the tariffs to pass,” said Diether. “I think this is really making people think about food security and where stuff comes from. And, going forward, how do we be in a position where this wouldn’t impact us? You know, can we get more produce locally? Do we have a local butcher that we can look at? So, it's going to be interesting to see, but that's kind of what I see coming and from what I've heard, that's kind of a big discussion out there amongst people at the moment.”
