Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticizes Campbell’s for putting labels on some of their soups touting ties to Canada despite manufacturing many products in the U.S. <\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is once again floating the idea of introducing legislation that would force companies to place a flag of origin on their products as he takes aim at Campbell\u2019s for \u2018misleading people\u2019 with some of its soup labels. <\/p>\n
Ford brought up the matter during an unrelated news conference in Pickering on Thursday, where he mused about legislation that would make it easier for shoppers to identify which products are made outside of Canada amid the ongoing trade war with the U.S. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat really bothers me lately and I have to have a chat with all the retailers, the big five, is that I have heard stories that you are outsourcing out of our country when there are great manufacturers here,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I have to put a Canadian flag and every other flag on every single product and legislate it until the consumer can see that you are pulling the wool over their eyes (I will), because that is what they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford has repeatedly called for Ontarians to buy Canadian-made products since the onset of the trade war and has also urged retailers to do their part by helping their customers identify those products. <\/p>\n
However, during Thursday\u2019s news conference, the premier suggested that some \u201csneaky companies\u201d are trying to pass off products made outside of the country as Canadian. <\/p>\n
He then singled out Campbell\u2019s, who he said places a label on some of their soups touting their ties to the country despite manufacturing many of their products at a plant in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still have to get a can of Campbell\u2019s soup who has put that Canadian flag on but it is not being manufactured here, misleading the people and getting it produced in Camden, New Jersey,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe can, the label, the stuff inside… Do you think the people of Ontario are that dumb? I am going to call you out. I am going to get one of those cans, I am going to rip that label off and encourage people to buy made in Ontario, made in Canada soup.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Campbell\u2019s tells CTV News that while it does have \u2018Designed in Canada\u2019 printed on some of its soup labels, it began phasing out that branding in 2024 and no longer produces cans with that phrase. <\/p>\n
The spokesperson said that the phrase was first added to the cans in 2018 when it closed its Toronto plant while opening a corporate headquarters for its Canadian business in Mississauga. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of that transition, we added \u2018Designed in Canada\u2019 to our labels to ensure Canadians knew these products would continue to be created by our Canadian team based on Canadian taste preferences, insights and recipes,\u201d the spokesperson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were one of many companies to use this on labels and the claim is consistent with Competition Bureau guidance. Many of our products include ingredients sourced from Canadian farmers and we offer varieties unique to the Canadian market, even though the product is made in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell\u2019s added that while its soups are now produced in the U.S., all of its broth products sold in Canada are made in Canada via an Ontario-based contract manufacturer and feature a maple leaf with the designation \u201cPrepared in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s news conference marked the second time in two weeks that Ford has publicly criticized Campbell\u2019s for its labeling. <\/p>\n
During a July 31 news conference in Thunder Bay, Ford also brought up the company and said that Ontarians shouldn\u2019t let Campbell\u2019s \u201choodwink\u201d them into thinking its soup is Canadian. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe what you should do is bring back your manufacturing facility that you closed down in Etobicoke and got rid of hundreds of people,\u201d Ford said on Thursday in a remark addressed directly to the soup maker. \u201cI just can\u2019t stand sneaky companies that do stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n