Canadian boycott of US products pushes grocers to adapt, explore new supply sources - TimesLIVE

A growing consumer push to buy Canadian and boycott US products is reshaping supermarket shelves in Canada, forcing grocers to improve country-of-origin labelling and secure new sources of supply.

In Ontario, the president of independent grocer Vince’s Market, Giancarlo Trimarchi, turned to Facebook to show customers that most produce on his stores’ shelves is Canadian after receiving angry emails and comments about the grocer stocking US produce.

A bitter trade war between the US and Canada has made consumers more conscious of where their dollars go. “Buy Canadian” movements started early last year after US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian goods and have intensified in recent weeks after trade talks broke down and Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.

“It is a lot more aggressive this time around than last year,” Trimarchi said in an interview. His four stores, spread across the Greater Toronto Area, now have about 90% Canadian produce. He is now sourcing strawberries from Quebec instead of the US and has cut his advertising budget as the changes have pressured operating costs, he said.

“We were always put in a position where you had to balance quality versus price. Now it’s quality versus price versus country of origin,” Trimarchi said.

Loblaw Cos, the country’s largest food retailer, brought back large signs featuring a maple leaf in its produce and fresh food sections in August after a brief hiatus to flag the products’ Canadian origins. Loblaw also reintroduced a “T” tag to inform customers which products are affected by tariffs and make Canadian products easier to identify. Metro, the country’s third-largest grocer, said it would continue to prioritise local Canadian products in the current context.

“There has been a permanent change in the Canadian psyche,” said Gary Sands, senior vice president of public policy and advocacy for the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers.

Canada is the world’s fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables by value. The US is still the biggest supplier of fresh produce, accounting for more than half of the imports, followed by Mexico.

However, the share of Canada’s vegetable imports from the US fell to 62.6% in July, the latest government data showed, from 69% in the same month of 2023, before Trump was elected.

More than half of the country’s fruit imports came from the US as of July. Trade talks broke down on August 21, spurring a new round of tariffs and counter tariffs.

John Ambard, 27, a software engineer who lives in downtown Toronto, said he has tried to avoid buying American products when possible, preferring to support Canadian brands and businesses. He said he checks product labels and researches companies online to identify Canadian-made goods.

“I think, honestly, if I can support Canadian products and Canadian institutions through these tough times, I think that’s a way to help in my small way,” he said.

“I’m a little bit mad with America right now with how things are going. The attitude has just not been that of a friend.”

Canada’s harsh winters present a challenge for fresh produce, and grocers typically rely on greenhouses, stocked root vegetables or imports, which are usually more cost-effective. But the change in sentiment toward the US could push grocers to explore more local suppliers, experts say, while Canada invests in building a more self-reliant food system.

The Canadian government is investing about C$3bn (R34.83bn) over 10 years to build greenhouses to increase production during the harsh winter months. It is also trying to lower food inflation — among the highest in the Group of Seven developed nations — by increasing the domestic food supply.

Gordon Dean, the owner of Mike Dean Local Grocer, which operates stores in rural Ontario and Quebec, said his stores are now selling more produce from countries like Spain, Brazil and Honduras than they previously did.

“There’s nobody running back to the US supply chain because once the new supply chains are established, they’re far more diversified. We’re in a safer position,” he said.

However, Dean said restrictions and differing regulations between provinces made it harder to move food products across Canada, leaving many grocers reliant on suppliers south of the border.

“Nationalism is now trumping economics to a degree that might switch if the relationship improves,” said Mike von Massow, professor of food agriculture and resource economics at the University of Guelph.

He said the Canada-US relationship may never fully return to where it was, but a future easing of tensions, particularly under a new US administration, could prompt a shift back to American products because they are often cheaper than other alternatives.