Kevin Groh, Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communication, Loblaw Companies Ltd. sent in the following statements.
Our job, as a retailer, is to stock the products customers want most. Although it has been a recent social-media sensation, French’s regular ketchup did not sell well in our stores for more than a year. In that time, we consistently met with French’s to review performance. We notified them of our final decision more than a month ago.
We have agreed to stock French’s new innovation, flavoured ketchup made from Leamington tomatoes, and continue to stock dozens of other French’s product, in many of our stores nationwide. We will continue to stock a broader assortment of French’s ketchup products in stores in the Leamington-Windsor area, consistent with our commitment to locally important products.
Loblaw is committed to supporting Canadian farmers and Canadian businesses and is in fact the largest purchaser of locally grown produce in the country.
He then updated CFN with the following.
We’ve heard our Loblaws customers. 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.
Oh joy…another national crisis avoided.