Multinational food and beverage firms push Canadian-made products amid

Amid a “buy Canadian” push inspired by trade tensions with the U.S., some multinational food and beverage companies are working hard to highlight their Canadian-made products.

Canadian viewers of the Super Bowl over the weekend may have noticed a new ad from Kraft Heinz. The ad, set in the company’s Montreal factory, was put together in less than a week, said Simon Laroche, president of Kraft Heinz Canada.

The factory employs more than a thousand people and has 42 production lines, he said.

“Brands like Philadelphia cream cheese … Kraft peanut butter, Heinz ketchup, Kraft salad dressing or Kraft singles, even Classico pasta sauce. All of those brands are made in Canada by Canadians, and people didn’t know that,” said Laroche.

“We make 70 per cent of what we sell in Canada, in Canada.”

WATCH | New ad by Kraft highlighting its Canadian-made products: 

After U.S. President Donald Trump announced he intends to implement sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would retaliate with tariffs of its own.

Now, the two sides are in the midst of a month-long truce. But in the meantime, many Canadians are looking for ways to support domestic businesses that could be hurt if tariffs do come into play.

It’s a good time for brands to promote Canadian products, said Rachel Thexton of Thexton Public Relations.

But consumers looking to shop patriotically are finding it’s not cut-and-dried, she said.

There are several different labels depending on how a product was made, and many international companies such as Kraft Heinz make products in Canada, so brands are clamouring to prove their Canadian-ness to shoppers in the grocery store.

“They’re certainly investing a lot in this,” Thexton said.

Multinational brands are likely concerned their sales could suffer because they’re not seen as Canadian, said Thexton.

Other large U.S.-based food companies with a manufacturing footprint in Canada include Hershey, PepsiCo and its subsidiary Frito-Lay, and Mondelez International, the maker of Dad’s cookies, Oreos, Ritz crackers and other well-known snacks.

Many big-name alcoholic drinks are also manufactured in Canada. Molson Coors, which was formed through the merger of Canadian company Molson and American company Coors, brews a slew of beverages domestically including its namesake beers as well as Blue Moon, Arizona Hard Tea, Miller and Rickard’s.

The company has nine brewing locations across the country, employing thousands of people, said spokeswoman Alex Sockett in a statement.

“While we are a global business, the vast majority of our beers and beverages are made in the market in which they are sold.”

In recent comments urging shoppers to seek out Canadian-made products, Trudeau noted that when the country was in a…