Tariff talk increases sales for ‘local markets and makers’

Local food producers are reporting an increase in sales of their Canada-only products in the face of a trade war, CTV London's Scott Miller has the details.

Eat Local Huron just opened a retail location in November, bringing together over 700 products from more than four dozen local farmers and makers under one roof.

“It used to be that you’d have to drive for some of this stuff from farm gate to farm gate. Some would be at one farmer’s market but not another. During the winter the farmers markets were shut down. We wanted to just have one spot where you could get all the great local stuff that’s being made in Huron County and area all in one location,” said Eat Local Huron Executive Director Christopher Spaleta.

After a slow start things picked up right after Donald Trump started talking about tariffs and turning Canada into the 51st state. Spaleta says sales are up as much as 40 per cent since Trump’s trade threats began.

“Some people have said that it’s the final straw for them. That they had heard about us knew that we were doing this local food thing, and then the tariffs were the final straw. They said, ‘that’s it, I’m just buying local,’” said Spaleta.

Eat Local Huron isn’t alone. Virginia Ehrlich’s subscription box business of products made only in small Canadian towns has seen an even bigger sales bump due to Trump’s tariff talk.

“Our sales have doubled year over year. In the last two months alone we have welcomed 200 additional Acre 75 Gathered subscribers,” said Ehrlich who founded and runs Acre 75 Gathered out of Milverton.

Ehrlich says many of her new subscribers specifically referenced tariffs and wanting to support Canadian businesses when they signed up for her seasonal subscription boxes filled with only Canadian made goodies.

“Sometimes it takes things like this these threats, and the economy to really reinforce that shopping local, and shopping Canadian shouldn’t only be a trend it really is the solution,” said Ehrlich.

While Spaleta and Ehrlich may not love the reason why people are finally deciding to ‘buy local,’ they are happy it’s finally happening. It’s up to them now to keep those customers coming back for more.

“We’re happy to have people eating local. We have nothing against Americans. We just think it makes sense, especially for food, to get it from as close to home as possible, so that it’s fresher, healthier, better for the local economy, and better for the planet because of the carbon footprint,” said Spaleta.

“We know that $0.66 of every dollar spent at a local business gets recirculated back into the local economy. So, it really is so important to always support Canadian-made, and really be intentional with where you are spending your money especially now,” said Ehrlich.

You can learn about Eat Local Huron by visiting www.eatlocalhuron.ca and Acre 75 Gathered Canadian subscription boxes at www.acre75.ca.