Canadians want retailers to make it easier to support local

Donoreo

93 per cent of Canadians say they want retailers and grocery stores to identify and promote Canadian products
68 per cent think, in a trade war, grocery stores should stop selling U.S. products and produce
85 per cent say the trade war has prompted them to support more local producers or companies
70 per cent of Canadian consumers say they will boycott U.S. products, including produce and other groceries should U.S. President Donald Trump follow through with a 25-per-cent tariff on imports from Canada
80 per cent say they are purposefully looking for a non-U.S. version (e.g., if fruit is available from either the U.S. or Peru, choosing the Peruvian version) if a Canadian product equivalent isn’t available
89 per cent say Canadian grocery stores should be required to give preferential shelf space to Canadian products
84 per cent say they are paying more attention to the origin of where products are made by reading the labels
77 per cent say they will buy Canadian products even if it costs more

https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/retailer-news/2025/02/canadians-want-retailers-to-make-it-easier-to-support-local-businesses-amid-trade-war-threats-kpmg/

g121

Donoreo
i agree with the bulk of these points ..

but i do take full exception to "68 per cent think, in a trade war, grocery stores should stop selling U.S. products and produce".

absolutely highlight/promote where products are from so that "we know". but sometimes a USA product is the only option for various reasons. we don't need to be "100% pure" in our boycot; make best, reasonable effort without shooting ourselves in the foot. i make a conscious effort to buy Canadian or buy non-USA but sometimes there's no decent other choice. I live on low-carb pitas/wraps/torillas; finding ones that don't taste like crap or literally vile is not easy .. so there's a USA one I favour; i've gotta eat, so I gotta buy them.

here's an example of an absolutely disgusting vile wrap, i tossed the whole package after just a few bites : (( ..

Thane_Bitter

Donoreo I am going to pick on Loblaws for a moment over their methods and policies which do buy canadian and then almost waste it. Locally there are a number of farms that produce vegetables, it seems to take loblaws a week or more to take a load of freshly picked produce and put it on the floor or in bins at their store. Why? Things like pickling cucumbers have a limited shelf life, in a perfect would they should be pickled or processed the day they are picked because they begin to lose water. The inefficient shipping processes often has 1/4 bushel boxes of moldy soggy cucumbers put in the store with no chance of consumption. This costs money and is an utter waste of time, energy and money. They may be trucking the stuff around, moving it from truck to truck, putting it into warehouses, but the end result is a product that is sub par or completely useless.
Also there was a time when produce prices dropped when Ontario produces came into season, of the last few years that difference has shrunk to nothing. I know the farmers and producers aren't get increased profits from the rise in prices so who is?
IMHO loblaws will only pass the cost of their Chinese made little canadian flags, apply them to products which aren't canadian (this has happened, repeatedly all over the place) and once again stick it to the consumer.

urbanriot

mrweather

I noticed when I did groceries at Loblaws this weekend that shelf price tags now have a maple leaf on them indicating presumably that they're made/produced in Canada.

I noticed that too but I also noticed that they were featuring products that were not made in Canada. It's an issue I've had with grocers in the past like Sobeys, they'll advertise Ontario produce under the bin but inside will be Mexican or otherwise. I don't trust that labelling.

Donoreo

93 per cent of Canadians say they want retailers and grocery stores to identify and promote Canadian products

I'm not in that demographic as I don't trust retailers and grocery stores to give me accurate information nor do I want them to engage in any actions that increase the cost of goods by allocating resources to 'identify' or 'promote' Canadian products.

This should be up to manufacturers of products to tout their Canadian nature.

77 per cent say they will buy Canadian products even if it costs more

I would always buy Canadian products if it cost more but only if the quality was better than other countries and the price wasn't exorbitant. When it comes to produce, I've always bought Canadian or local Ontario to support the local community but also because the price was great, and we're a lot stricter with pesticides and all that than some of the other countries. Next down from Canadian I'll go American for the same reasons. If i had to choose between blueberries grown in the US or blueberries grown in Peru, I'll always opt to go American.

Astyanax

Donoreo 77 per cent say they will buy Canadian products even if it costs more

...for a while.

Edited

taraf

g121 here's an example of an absolutely disgusting vile wrap, i tossed the whole package after just a few bites : (( ..

Dempster's. Their parent company is Mexican, but they bake their breads/wraps in Canada and use Canadian wheat. They're not low carb, but the carb load from a wrap is pretty low and your body needs some carbohydrates in the diet.

taraf

We also need to underline the amount of privilege in being able to even participate in a boycott: it does cost more, and some Canadians don't have room in their budget to be able to pay it.

Donoreo

taraf We also need to underline the amount of privilege in being able to even participate in a boycott

My brother cannot afford to do what he wants to do, he needs to buy the lowest cost option.

g121

taraf
My Joseph's Pita is only 7g net carbs .. I rotate thru their Pita, Wraps & Lavash Bread.
Saving carbs where one can allows carb flexibility for other things.

Avernar

Donoreo My brother cannot afford to do what he wants to do, he needs to buy the lowest cost option.

Yes. People should not hurt themselves or their families in participating in the boycott. But, if the price is the same or it's an item that people can do without, they should participate for those items. You don't have to go all in to help send the message.

mrweather

I noticed when I did groceries at Loblaws this weekend that shelf price tags now have a maple leaf on them indicating presumably that they're made/produced in Canada.

taraf

I've seen lots of posts on Reddit of those labels being applied to stuff that isn't a product of Canada. And strictly in Loblaws-owned stores... there was a thread this morning about somebody who confronted a manager at Food Basics about it, and was told that the labels were essentially meaningless. 🙁

Need to actually check the label. There are a couple of apps you can install which will scan the UPS & look it up for you, too.

Avernar

taraf Need to actually check the label. There are a couple of apps you can install which will scan the UPS & look it up for you, too.

I've been using the Shop Canadian app. Any other recommended ones?

Donoreo

taraf And strictly in Loblaws-owned stores... there was a thread this morning about somebody who confronted a manager at Food Basics about it, and was told that the labels were essentially meaningless. 🙁

They are probably on higher margin items. I would not put it past them.

MomOfARocker

Avernar I have downloaded one I heard about on the news called ‘Maple Scan’ but I have not yet had a chance to try it out. I have also downloaded ‘Shop Canadian’ and ‘Buy Beaver’.

taraf

I've heard good things about Buy Beaver, but I haven't used it myself. Thus far we're just checking the labels -- we don't buy a lot of prefab food to begin with, and certain brands are well known in the spaces they sell in.

Avernar

taraf Thanks. I’ll compare both on the items we already have in the pantry.

🤣

Avernar

taraf we don't buy a lot of prefab food to begin with,

We're reducing our prefab as well. But still checking the ingredients (spices, etc.).

Donoreo

taraf Buy Beaver

Must. NOT. LET. THE. EVIL. THOUGHTS. WIN. 🙂

styvas

Avernar I think I might have downloaded the wrong Buy Beaver app. Any chance you could talk my wife down for me?

Guy54435

Donoreo

markuswarren

styvas Ah, but was the beaver recently stuffed?

styvas

markuswarren Surely you can’t be serious.

Avernar

styvas Surely you can’t be serious.

bjlockie

Thane_Bitter IMHO loblaws will only pass the cost of their Chinese made little canadian flags, apply them to products which aren't canadian (this has happened, repeatedly all over the place)

Loblaws has mis weighed ground beef repeatedly.
It is illegal and they got fined for it but it keeps happening.
I saw it on Marketplace.
Anything Loblaws does doesn't surprise me.

taraf

All good points. We actually avoid Loblaws for entirely other reasons (they're a lot more expensive, the Westons are assholes, etc...)

Buy local whenever you can. At least for us, that means most of our produce is bought at Farm Boy, because they actually seem to go out of their way to carry seasonal local vegetables whenever possible. There's also a few farms near us that we buy direct from whenever we can.