To show support for Canada amid a trade war with the U.S., John Mackay says he tries to only buy Canadian products during grocery runs.
That’s why the 81-year-old from Tillsonburg, Ont., said he’s complained to Metro multiple times after seeing orange juice with pulp by Irrésistible — a Metro-owned private-label brand — with a red maple leaf next to the price tag on the shelf.
“Since when are we growing oranges in Canada?” said Mackay, whose home is roughly 115 kilometres west of Hamilton. “I was pissed off.”
What customers see on the Metro website is a red circle with a maple leaf and the words “produit d’ici” — which translates to “product from here” — next to the word Canada, outside the circle. But the website doesn’t contain a clear definition of exactly what that means.
Shoppers like Mackay are expressing frustration from coast to coast, many writing into Marketplace, questioning what products get identified as Canadian and who’s actually benefiting by our largest grocery stores using these labels.
To find out how often grocery stores are labelling products with Canadian symbols, Marketplace analyzed products sold online at one Loblaws store, through Voilà in Toronto, and at Metro.
Marketplace found that a third of products at the Loblaws were labelled as Prepared in Canada, and more than a fifth of products at Voilà were labelled with a Shop Canada logo. There were also thousands of Metro products listed under that store’s Canada label.
- This story is the first in a series launched by CBC’s Marketplace to investigate consumer questions and concerns when it comes to how the trade war with the U.S. is impacting the Canadian marketplace. Contact marketplace@cbc.ca to submit any tips.
The products listed range from local maple syrup to not-so-local items, like pineapple juice.
Marketplace shared its findings with experts who say grocery stores are trying to capitalize on the country’s wave of patriotism, noting that a vague definition of what makes a product Canadian is in the best interest of retailers, not shoppers.
“There’s all kinds of opportunities to do marketing that are somewhat misleading,” said David Soberman, a marketing professor at University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
Metro told Marketplace the “produit d’ici” logo was mistakenly added to items on its Ontario web pages and is being removed and will just display the word “Canada,” which means the product was produced, made or grown here. The company said it is continuously reviewing and updating how it identifies products.
Loblaws store labelled more than 1 in 3 items as Prepared in Canada
Marketplace found Loblaws labelled 35 per cent of all products online as Prepared in Canada.
Michael von Massow, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies the economy of food, said he would’ve expected an even higher…
Read More: Marketplace found up to 1 in 3 groceries get labelled as Canadian.