Ketchup kerfuffle brings out Canadian patriotism

Ketchup is one of the most popular condiments in Canada. But the majority of Canadians did not necessarily pay much attention to the brand, until Heinz closed their factory and left the southern Ontario community of Leamington, the self-proclaimed Tomato Capital of Canada.

“It is bigger than ketchup, believe me!” 

The move made national healines when it happened in 2014, and the 740 workers and neighbouring farmers were left to fend for themselves. To some it was a heartless move by the Heinz, a company revered investor, Warren Buffet, has a stake in.

Then French’s, moved in and saved the day, announcing in January that it would use Leamington tomatos for its ketchup line. But beyond Leamington, the majority of Canadians didn’t know “French’s” as a ketchup. That’s all changed now. With national grocery chain Loblaws‘ public reversal of a decision on Monday to drop the product.

Toronto area politician, Mike Colle, was one of the key players in the reversal. The member of Ontario’s provincial parliament for the Toronto city riding of Eglinton – Lawrence says he was moved to act by the fact that sales of French’s ketchup had risen about 700 per cent in the last month, and why he questioned Loblaw’s decision to remove it from their shelves. He says you couldn’t find a bottle of French’s anywhere in Toronto. There had been a facebook campaign directing people to the stores that still had some in stock. He says when he heard that Loblaw’s was planning to abandon the product because no one was buying it, “I said what’s going on here? So that’s when I got really upset!” 

He wrote a letter to the head of the Loblaws empire, Galen Weston, threatening a boycott if French’s ketchup was dropped. Later in the afternoon, the decision was reversed. It’s a great example of the swift power of consumer demand and social media.

Tandy Thomas, an assistant professor of marketing at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University says it’s a marketing case for the textbooks. She says the patriotic aspect of the story is what makes it so interesting. “Canadians like supporting companies that support us and support our communities.” she said.  “The imact of this has been extraordinary. They couldn’t have asked for a better couple of days.”

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In a televised interview this morning on CBC’s News Network, Mike Colle described it as a cautionary tale: “I think corporate Canada, (and) Canadian governments gotta’ wake up to the fact that Canadians are very loyal to things Canadian, and especially their food, and they’re very connected to their food; they want to be able to access it, and at the same time they’re very upset about what happened in Leamington, where the billionaire Buffet came in and shut down a plant that was in existence since 1909.”

Colle said he received “incredible support from across Canada”. He said people were applauding his effort to stand up for Canadian jobs, and Canadian products. “It is bigger than ketchup, believe me!”

Meanwhile, French’s CEO, Elliot Penner, who grew up not far away, in Cambridge, Ontario, is expressing gratitude to Canadians for supporting its expansion from mustard, into the tomato domain. “We’re really humbled by it,” Penner said yesterday. “We just have never seen anything like this.”

But we’ll end with the man who really put Leamington on the map. The late, legendary Stompin’ Tom Connors, one of the great bards of all things Canadian, sang the praises of the southern Ontario tomato in his memorable ode, ‘The Ketchup Song.’