The straining relationship between the United States and Canada has left few North Americans happy, but among those who are enjoying it the most are local grocers.
Since US President Donald Trump made comments discrediting Canada’s independence, along with the added pain of tariffs, many Canadians have prioritized supporting Canadian businesses along with their products.
Some Calgarians have taken to social media, expressing the noticeable difference between the excess of American products and lack of Canadian products on shelves.
Through this wave, local grocers have felt the difference in consumers.
“It helped us out, in our business, because we had many products that are mostly local,” said Sagar Kothiya with the Sunnyside Natural Market in northwest Calgary.
The Sunnyside Natural Market prioritizes locally grown, organic foods, including produce, hormone-free meat, dairy products and locally produced baked goods.
Kothiya said that sourcing products locally has always been a priority for Sunnyside, and will remain that way.
With more companies sourcing products outside the US, Kothiya said that non-American products may become harder to acquire.
“If we go with the US, we will disappoint some customers who don’t want the US product, on the other hand, if we choose not to sell any product, then we are still disappointing some customers,” he said.
“There was a time that because everybody was choosing Mexican Romaine lettuce, Mexican (lettuce) was sold out. Our only option was US (lettuce). That’s a difficult choice.”
Kothiya believes that being self-sufficient is one of the most important issues for a nation. Kothiya cited the possibility of “hurting two people” when outsourcing goods and services.
“When we import, we could be supporting someone to exploit some people on the other end of the world, and we are not supporting local people in Canada,” he said.
Since its opening in Crowfoot in 1995, Amaranth Whole Foods Market has sourced a portion of their products from local farmers and entrepreneurs.
“There are made in Canada stickers on shelf tags that indicate Canadian-made products,” said Hieu Phan, speaking for the Calgary-based chain’s Arbour Lake store.
Amaranth’s Arbour Lake location has felt a spike in their “made in Canada” products and the shorter time those products are in store, Phan said.
