Top Canadian Grocer Says Sales of US Products 'Rapidly' Dropping

(Bloomberg) — Canada’s second-biggest supermarket company said a boycott of US goods is quickly taking hold in reaction to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his threats of “economic force” to make the country the 51st US state.

“American products we are selling as a percentage of our total sales are rapidly dropping,” said Michael Medline, chief executive officer of Empire Co., which owns large chains including Sobeys and Safeway in Canada. “We have heard loud and clear from our customers that they want Canadian products.”

The Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based company typically sourced 12% of products from the US by dollar value, Medline said on the company’s fiscal third quarter earnings call Thursday — but that number is falling “and will continue to, as we shift our supply” away from US to Canadian products.

That will help offset the cost of retaliatory tariffs Canada has placed on US products and any weakness in the Canadian dollar, Medline said. Growth in sales of Canadian products has outpaced overall revenue, he said.

Empire had C$31 billion ($21.5 billion) of revenue in the 12 month-period ended Feb. 1. 

Suppliers are shifting their operations to adapt to tariffs, he added — citing Swiss chocolatier Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprungli AG, which will now supply the Canadian market entirely from Europe, instead of 50% from the US as it did previously. 

Sobeys had 21% of the Canadian grocery market, behind only Loblaw Cos., according to a 2022 report from the Retail Council of Canada. Empire shares were down 2.6% to C$43.30 at 12:43 p.m. in Toronto.

Government officials including outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have encouraged buying Canadian goods over American ones, and the country’s competition watchdog