B.C. grocer avoids selling U.S. produce for 117 days in what expert calls a ‘real' boycott
Garth Green, general manager of Urban Grocer, says when U.S. Donald Trump launched his trade war on Canada in March, they decided to pull all U.S.-grown produce from the shelves.
And so far, it's been a big success.
'We're, you know, just really trying to promote the local farms,' he said.
'And the Canadian farms. And so it's been very, very good for us. The customers have been very appreciative of it.'
The experiment has not been without its challenges.
When Green found out they could only get cauliflower from the U.S., he realized it was currently cauliflower season in Holland.
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'So we reached out to a few suppliers and said, 'Hey, can you get Holland cauliflower for us?'' he said.
'We ended up finding some, brought it in, and you know it's a little bit more expensive to bring in because you're flying it in. But we just took, you know, a less margin, sell it at a regular price and be able to give the customer something that they can buy until B.C. cauliflower was available.'
6:19
50% tariffs to hit Canadian copper imports to the U.S.
Green said local farmers are now reaching out to offer produce to their customers.
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'There's people every day almost that come in here and say, 'You know, we hear what you're doing and we love it and we'd love to join on board with you and really shop here,''' he added.
Green added that it is unfortunate that it took something like the trade war to make this change but he is happy it has been so successful.
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'We've got a Canada-first motto that we like to push, but, you know, we're also not blind to the fact that you can't get everything from Canada, right?' he said.
'And so, you know, even across the store, we are working towards trying to go all Canadian if possible. It's going to be a lot harder, but we've started the process and started to weed out some of the suppliers that we don't need.'
0:27
Business response to Trump's 35% tariff threat
Sylvain Charlebois, with the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University, researches food distribution, security and safety.
He told Global News that what Urban Grocer is doing points to a broader movement against American products at the grocery store.
'What's really interesting is that people haven't really boycotted chains like Walmart or Costco, but they're boycotting products,' he said.
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'And the boycott naturally worked. If you look at the data, not surveys, actual sales data, according to NielsenIQ, by volume, sales for American food products are down about 8.5 per cent.'
Charlebois said in the food retail business, that number is huge.
'That's a boycott. That's the boycott now,' he added.
Charlebois added that while consumers are seeing fewer U.S. products, they are seeing more products from around the world so it does not necessarily mean that Canadian product companies are benefiting from the boycott.
'The boycott is absolutely real. So this boutique store is a good, strong case study for what actually is happening across the country.'
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"We are excited to report that our Phase 2 trial met all key endpoints, with clinical responses and survival outcomes that exceed targeted expectations and historical benchmarks," said Angelos Stergiou, MD, ScD h.c., President and CEO of SELLAS. "AML remains an area of urgent unmet medical need, particularly for patients with relapsed or refractory disease, where standard treatments are often ineffective and poorly tolerated. What sets SLS009 apart is its consistent efficacy across a broad range of molecular subtypes." Following FDA guidance, the company will launch an 80‑patient randomized study in newly diagnosed first‑line AML by Q1 2026 to support a potential New Drug Application. DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this publication should be considered as personalized financial advice. We are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular financial situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized financial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decision. This is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. Equity Insider is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market IQ Media Group, Inc. ("MIQ"). MIQ has been paid a fee for Oncolytics Biotech Inc. advertising and digital media from the company directly. There may be 3rd parties who may have shares of Oncolytics Biotech Inc., and may liquidate their shares which could have a negative effect on the price of the stock. This compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Because of this conflict, individuals are strongly encouraged to not use this publication as the basis for any investment decision. The owner/operator of MIQ own shares of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. which were purchased in the open market, and reserve the right to buy and sell, and will buy and sell shares of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. at any time without any further notice commencing immediately and ongoing. We also expect further compensation as an ongoing digital media effort to increase visibility for the company, no further notice will be given, but let this disclaimer serve as notice that all material, including this article, which is disseminated by MIQ has been approved by Oncolytics Biotech Inc.; this is a paid advertisement, we currently own shares of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. and will buy and sell shares of the company in the open market, or through private placements, and/or other investment vehicles. 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