The on-again, off-again threats of tariffs and invasions from U.S. political leaders has created a burst of retail patriotism among Canadian shoppers. 

Whether because of the threat of higher prices that may result from retaliatory tariffs or just a ‘no thanks’ attitude towards all things American, consumers have shown a taste for Canadian products, in grocery stores and elsewhere. 

The phrase ‘maple-washing’ has been coined in popular discourse to describe the lengths that retailers and producers have gone to make their products appear as Canadian as possible. 

Red maple leafs have appeared on many products, ‘buy Canadian’ signage is being displayed in stores and on grocers web sites. And sales pitches talk  about how certain potato chips were made from Canadian potatoes,  processed and packaged by Canadian workers in Canadian facilities. 

Every step related to supply matters, because some consumers would prefer only Canadian products sold in Canadian stores, while others might care less about the retailer, and others might have no preference for product origin. Some consumers, surveys say, are willing to pay more for Canadian products, which is quite a turnabout from shoppers’ attitudes a year ago, when the top complaint about groceries was how much they cost, not their origin. 

But while consumers used social media a year ago to share outrage of underweight packages, now they’re abuzz about patriotic claims.

Campbell’s Soup has added a “Designed in Canada” mark on can labels. A grocer prominently placed “packaged in Canada” stickers on greens also labelled “Product of USA”. Others have pumped up the use of Canada Grade A Beef, and Canada Grade vegetables to get a little Canadiana on the label, even though those critera refers to Canadian standards, not country of origin. 

In one typical social media feed, Canadians can see promotion that Cadbury’s Creme Eggs and Mini Eggs are “proudly made for Canada, in Canada from domestic and imported ingredients”, Breyer’s ice cream is “made in Canada with high quality ingredients and Canadian dairy”. Black Diamond cheese will also promote its Canadian origins and production, and sometimes cheekily notes it is made with 0% American cheese. 

Some consumers will appreciate this presentation and favour those products. 

Of course, Cadbury is a British company, owned by Mondelez international. Breyers has a production facility in Simcoe, Ontario, but it’s owned by Unilever. Black Diamond has origins and production in Belleville, Ontario, but is owned by Lactalis Canada which is part of the Lactalis Group, headquartered in France.