Empire Company Ltd., the owner of a number of Canadian food retailers, said on March 13 that American products as a percentage of total sales have been falling substantially.
“American products we are selling as a percentage of our total sales are rapidly dropping,” Michael Medline, president and CEO of Empire, said during an earnings call. “We have heard loud and clear from our customers that they want Canadian products.”
Company executives pointed to retaliatory tariffs, shifting consumer preferences, and efforts to diversify supply chains as key reasons behind the trend.
“Approximately 12 percent of our products in dollars come from the U.S. … however, this 12 percent number has been decreasing over the last year and will continue to as we shift our supply to meet our customers’ growing demand for Canadian and non-American products,” Medline added during the call….