Loblaw Sees Uplift in Canadian Products Ahead of U.S. Tariffs
In the lead up to the U.S.-Canada tariff war, Canadians are looking to stick it to U.S. President Donald Trump by boycotting American goods at the grocery store.
The country’s largest food retailer, Loblaw Cos. Ltd., is already seeing the shift a week out from Trump’s March 1 start date.
Per Bank, president and CEO, said he’s observed shoppers’ appetite for made in Canada products first-hand.
“They are really seeking to buy more Canadian products,” Bank told analysts Thursday (Feb. 20). “When I'm out in stores, every single person I meet, they want help and guidance on how they can buy more Canadian products.”
Loblaw recently rolled out updates to its PC Optimum app that aim to make it easy for consumers to find Canadian products.
[RELATED: Loblaw reports Q4 profit down from year ago as it takes PC Optimum charge]
When users create a shopping list in the app, they'll find a new "swap" feature that, when selected, suggests Canadian-made alternatives.
Bank said the company saw a 75% week-on-week uplift of how many customers are using the feature. In-store, he’s seen a 10% uplift on Canadian products.
U.S. imports account for less than 10% of Loblaw’s costs, Bank said, and that’s mostly in the produce department.
“Produce is probably the most difficult place — I think we can mitigate half of our suppliers. We are seeing these tariffs as a tax on products that will hurt consumers on both sides of the border,” he said.
Bank said if tariffs drive up the cost of produce, or other products, he expects shoppers will choose locally made alternatives
“Household and cleaning, [that’s] one area where we have more than 30 vendors coming from the U.S. But we also have a very strong control brand portfolio in household and cleaning. We have our No Name and our PC, and if the tariffs will be applied on household and cleaning, then of course, those products will not be competitive anymore, and all the sales will go to our control brands,” Bank said. “And they're all produced in Canada. So, that's good for Canada, it's good for customers and it's good for us.”
This is a developing story. More to come…
This article was originally reported by sister publication Canadian Grocer.
