Loblaws To Restock French’s Ketchup

(Photo courtesy French's)
(Photo courtesy French's)
By March 15, 2016 1:05pm

Following a social media firestorm slamming Loblaws for pulling Leamington-made French’s ketchup from its selves, the company tells BlackburnNews.com they will be selling it again.

“We’ve heard our Loblaws customers,” says Kevin Groh, Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Communication.

“We will re-stock French’s ketchup and hope that the enthusiasm we are seeing in the media and on social media translates into sales of the product. We will work with French’s to make sure we are in-stock as soon as possible.”

Much of the social media frenzy was sparked by a man’s Facebook post after he realized the devastating effect Heinz had on Leamington once the company left.

Loblaws operates grocery store chains such as the Superstore, Zehrs, No Frills and others.

A petition by Essex MP Taras Nadyshak also gained traction, which pushed to replace Heinz with French’s ketchup at Queen’s Park.

Earlier this month Highbury Canco spoke about a deal with French’s that could see production triple at its Leamington facility. The ketchup is made using tomatoes grown in the Leamington-area.

Walmart Canada tells BlackburnNews.com that French’s ketchup is sold at all supercentre locations in the country and some discount stores, which “has been very well received by our customers.” National sales have increased “five-fold” over the past 12 months, they say.

French’s ketchup sales at Walmart locations in Ontario are higher than the national average. They tell BlackburnNews.com that’s particularly true at the stores in Windsor-Essex.

“Which we believe indicates a preference for locally grown tomatoes and a desire for customers to support local food producers and suppliers,” a Walmart spokesperson said in an email to BlackburnNews.com.

Officials say there are no plans to pull the product from Walmart shelves.