r/BuyCanadian

My local elbows up battle ended in a win this week. I live in a small town (6000pop) and we have 2 food retail stores to shop. The local Federated Co-Op and a Soby's affiliated Family Foods.

Both stores bring in bulk produce like corn and brussel sprouts. They will then repackage  some of it in small wrapped and weighed units. But the labels never display the country or origin,  and there is no primary shelf display panel.

I asked the managers of both outlets what the country of origin was on each product, and neither could tell me. Both managers brushed me off, and one was really rude about it.

I used the CFIA online reporting form  found on their website and filed a complaint.  I had a personal reply within 48 hours, saying they would look into it.

Yesterday, I noticed both stores now clearly displaying country of origin by placing a primary product panel with each pile of packed produce!

Stuff I learned in the process:

Open bulk produce does not require country of origin labelling.  So the big bulk boxes of corn on  the cob from Florida do not need to be declared.

But when you clean,  prep, and package it in store,  then the country of origin must be displayed either on the primary product panel or individually on the in-house label.

Asking the produce manager the country of origin of bulk produce i buy really pisses them off, but they have to disclose it when asked. If enough people keep asking, maybe they will consider voluntarily posting it and save the annoyance of people constantly asking. ;)

Beware of Kraft being sneaky.

These are bottles of Kraft flavoured mayonnaise.

One I bought a year ago. One I bought this week.

A year ago, it was listed as "Product of USA".

Now it is listed as "Imported By Kraft Heinz Canada"

Trying to hide the fact that it is a USA product.

These were only $1 on sale, so I still purchased it. In my mind Im ripping them off. 😅

But beware that companies are trying to confuse you by removing the origin.

I forget where I bought these (Superstore, or maybe Sunrise in Vancouver?), but these Lula fig cookies are delicious. And 100% plant-based and made from basic stuff, which suits me. They have a shortbread-like outside and a nice chewy fig filling, not too sweet. The only thing I didn't love is that each cookie is individually wrapped (wasteful?) but I suppose that could be a bonus if you want to eat them on the run. I just discovered their Quebec-based manufacturer ME Delights offers other flavours too. And no, I am not shilling for anyone, just giving a well-deserved shout-out.

I'm sharing it here as I feel all those that come here are like minded as myself as we care about supporting our Canadian products!

The goal was to give quick, factual Canadian information based on actual Canadian ratings while incorporating many useful shopping features.

It’s free to use and made to help Canadians shop smarter at home or in-store.
Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

With the app you can:

• Scan OR type search grocery products and check their true Canadian rating

• Compare items with more Canadian options

• Build personal shopping lists

• Create shared group shopping lists across both iOS and Android platforms!

• See where products were found in stores across Canada along with directions if needed. The goal here was to help locate where the smaller, harder to find Canadian items can be found!

The goal is simple: make it easier to find Canadian products, keep your shopping organized, and help build a useful community-powered grocery tool for all Canadians.

🍎App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/great-white-north/id6759403996

▶️ Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crash.gwn

📺 YouTube App Tutorials:

https://www.youtube.com/@GreatWhiteNorth-y1l

I’ve seen this ad on Instagram for these father day sweaters where they embroidered photos sent to them on the sweater. Thought it was a great idea but product is from US, plus I don’t usually trust ads/shops on instagram. Was wondering if anyone knows of something similar but Canadian made! Would really appreciate it!

I was browsing their website to see if they’d be open in Victoria Day, and saw this new feature “Cart Genius” which gives you AI-powered product recommendations.

Naturally, this seems like an unnecessary use of AI, and for it to display items here without any info about me, is even worse. For example, in the +6 products is ground beef and bacon. I’m eating a primarily plant based diet, so obviously that’s pretty incorrect. I just don’t see the value or use of this new feature, anyone else? What’s the point?

I am trying to understand what I am looking at and hoping someone has these in real life and can clarify!

I am looking for summer pjs from Canadian companies and came across these on the website:

1. The orange cape thing?, which has buttons (despite there not being enough fabric to button up), is not seen in the other pictures nor is it mentioned in the text.

2. The two blue shirts of varying length- the other photos only have the shorter shirt. The text does not mention two shirts.

Does anyone have these pjs in real life? Are there inexplicably random layers included in the set?

Pepper North's Black Cherry Reaper, Dawson's Original Hot, Maritime Maddness Simple Lime + Cilantro, and Ginger Goat's Pineaplle Ginger Original Goat