Our Food Basics took US produce off the shelves... !?

urbanriot · 2025-02-03T04:22:31+00:00

I'm not sure why but our local Food Basics took all US produce off the shelves, everything from strawberries to peppers. Blueberries, for example, there was a pile of US stuff next to the Peru stuff on Friday. Today, the US stuff is off the shelf but the Peru stuff is all there. All the produce from Mexico, Peru, etc., is still on the shelves but everything US is gone. Half the produce area was bare, it was weird. I can't imagine that this doesn't have something to do with the impending tariffs, some kind of scumbaggery where they're going to put it back on the shelf on Tuesday at a marked up rate and claim tariffs did that... ? Anyone see anything similar at their local grocery store?

Thane_Bitter

urbanriot For some reason Costco had a Scottish Cheddar cheese on sale before the holidays, normally they have an Irish Cheddar which is ok (better than local, but not a lot). In contrast this Scott stuff was sharp yet creamy, rich flavour without the cheap trickery of adding citric acid like domestic low end producers use. Unfortunately they are out of it and have no plans to bring it back.

Oka isn't bad if that is your thing, I did try their limited run maple version and it was nice though the maple flavour was only in the rind and did not penetrate into the body of the cheese.

Astyanax

Thane_Bitter For some reason Costco had a Scottish Cheddar cheese on sale before the holidays

Glad to see you guys managed to tape your Sam's and Costco cards back together! LOL! 😉

urbanriot

ElQuintron

My wife and I make a classic balsamic vinaigrette but our kids hate it. So that's always an uphill battle. I generally prefer my own salad dressing with a few exception

My wife and I do the same and also faced the same issues, when our kids were young they always wanted creamy dressings like Catalina or French, or something sweet. Ranch or Blue Cheese not so much until they were older.

Dks01

I was in a local grocery store today. Almost all of the stock was present. Some items, made in the USA, were gone or had a couple of items left. People buying up their favourites? Unlike COVID time, there was lots of paper product available.

digitalfutur

Dks01 Our local LCBO had only 1 bottle of Jack Daniels whisky in stock yesterday.

Thane_Bitter

Astyanax I don't regret to inform you that Sam's Club tanked after three abortive years of not knowing what the hell it was doing, its struggle to get started did take out a small though well known record store which used the same name for its record album club but that is history now; even the reserugant of LP sales would not have kept it afloat. I don't have to support Walmart, the owner of Sam's Club, Americans subside that company to the tune of 8 billion dollars a year in various forms of tax breaks and other schemes - enjoy it (because you trueling are parting for it from both ends).

As for Costco while american based its a multinational corporation with divisions around the world. Also the goods sold aren't exclusively american made, the cheese I spoke of came from Scotland, other products they sell up here are produced or made in Canada, much of what I buy actually is. Membership is accepted at any location which can be very helpful if one travels around the world.

Dks01

digitalfutur Not surprising at all.

markuswarren

Probably priced at $500 too

urbanriot

Thane_Bitter

As for Costco while american based its a multinational corporation with divisions around the world.

Yea, except they're not running under the Costco brand.

Funny story, while visiting a friend in Costa Rica we were prepping up the truck to make a trek into the city to buy some goods for the next few months. We go into this giant store called PriceSmart and as soon as I walk in, I'm like, "wtf, this is literally Costco!?!" The aisles, the dark cement floor, the ceiling, it felt 100% Costco. But not Costco!? Even the front of each aisle had the white page sign with the sale pricing with the same serif font... wtf!?? How can they get away with copying Costco!?

We're going through the food aisles and I'm seeing Kirkland brand foods and I'm like, okay, this is too eerie to be a coincidence.

We pay for our goods, friend uses his PriceSmart card and the entire experience is exactly like it would be here in Niagara with Costco and I'm still stunned by all of this.

Then we get to the exit and I see the equivalent of a $1 hotdog and bad pizza and I'm like, okay, dude, this is Costco and he's like, "no lo sé muy bien".

We get back to a car and I hit Google and find out that... well... still confusing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PriceSmart

Says spun off from Costco back in the 90s but today it's entirely the Costco experience in everything but name.

Astyanax

Thane_Bitter I don't regret to inform you that Sam's Club tanked after three abortive years of not knowing what the hell it was doing

I was referring to when you all run for our border and pill...erm...shop at our warehouse clubs here on our side of it. 😉

Thane_Bitter Americans subside that company to the tune of 8 billion dollars a year in various forms of tax breaks and other schemes - enjoy it (because you trueling are parting for it from both ends).

As if no one other Americans are working on some sort of tax avoidance angle.

I never could get my head around the Canadians' love for paying taxes. I never knew a people to not want to keep as much of their own money as possible. The funniest part is when you actually attempt to shame us for it.

Donoreo

urbanriot We get back to a car and I hit Google and find out that... well... still confusing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PriceSmart

Interesting that the founder was also the founder of Price Club.

Thane_Bitter

urbanriot As you say that isn't Costco, let's call it "almost Costco" or mirror universe Costco. It is bizarrely the same but not legally.

The actual Costco operates in the US, Canada, UK, Mexico, NZ, Sweden, Taiwan, South Korea, Spain, Iceland, France, and oddly Japan (which seems like a bit of an outlier given costco's pro bulk savings model).

As for the looks and goods overlap, I don't know how the two companies worked that out, but the buying power of both of them combined would allow them a lot of leverage.

Donoreo

Thane_Bitter As for the looks and goods overlap, I don't know how the two companies worked that out, but the buying power of both of them combined would allow them a lot of leverage.

They just license from Costco, simple.

Astyanax

Thane_Bitter The actual Costco operates in the US, Canada, UK, Mexico, NZ, Sweden, Taiwan, South Korea, Spain, Iceland, France, and oddly Japan (which seems like a bit of an outlier given costco's pro bulk savings model).

...and China.

https://x.com/StockMKTNewz/status/1788207932212986220

g121

Astyanax I was referring to when you all run for our border and pill...erm...shop at our warehouse clubs here on our side of it. 😉

I'm in Toronto & have never done that once, not one single time ..

Thane_Bitter

Astyanax Like when Floridians move to Georgia because it cheaper, less impacted by hurricanes and has affordable insurance? I jest, though that is a real thing driven by pressures outside of peoples direct control.

The shopping thing was mostly along the border towns and after an increase in obtrusive yet mostly theatrical security measures after September 11, 2001 the requirements to cross did greatly curb such shopping trips. And then the pandemic impacted it again. There was a time when it was worthwhile to go to Detroit & area and spend a weekend shopping, doing things, however a series of problems along with poor local governance has really made the city shrink by 2/3 rds of what it used to be.

No one loves paying taxes, thought I am thrilled none of it is paying Musk's federal paycheque - the horror indeed; each nation has different priorities, your welcome to frame yours as you see it, whereas ours is more socially oriented to servicing the people rather than punishing them. Like you, we are most frustrated when public money is pissed away by politicians on their pet projects or corruption.

Yes they are in China, only seven stores but given the vast population they have good room to expand; again multinational company so expect them to be in many nations.

Dks01

We pay taxes because of the common services we receive. Universal, single payer health care is the best part. It's part of our Canadian competitive advantage. That's why Cleveland Cliffs, a US steel maker, bought Stelco. That's why it is cheaper to make vehicles in Canada. That's another reason we live longer. Not sorry about that. As for a going over across, screw that. Not again in my lifetime, I hope.

Dks01

Weird. I posted a reply, the forum said it couldn't post and timed out, 3x.

Donoreo

Dks01 It posted 3 times

Splitpair

Dks01

Dks01 Weird. I posted a reply, the forum said it couldn't post and timed out, 3x

Ignore it just back up refresh the page and your post will be there, it is some kind of glitch on the forum's system.

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