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Buy French's ketchup instead of Heinz
Tue, 2016-03-01 03:23
#1
Buy French's ketchup instead of Heinz
Tue, 2016-03-01 03:26
#2
Seems Heinz just up and left, screwing over the workers and farmers in Leamington Ontario. But French's set up shop and buy's tomatoes from there for their ketchup. So, buy French's and not Heinz.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/of-ketchup-and-canadian-economic-...
Tue, 2016-03-01 04:10
#3
bagkitty
Thanks for bringing this up again m_a, made the switch when the story first came out. Was hesitant - memories of the horrible tasting house brands and off labels I have tried in the past (and unlike your basic yellow prepared mustard) had me suspicious, but the recipes are so very close that there is no real period of adjustment to this condiment.
Tue, 2016-03-01 07:20
#4
Good to know that. I don't use ketchup, but this is important if I buy it for a party at my housing co-op, an association I work for or simply to tell friends and family (many are pissed off about the closing). French's also sell some decent hot mustards now, though I suspect they are probably made in the US (from Canadian seeds).
Tue, 2016-03-01 08:43
#5
i've asked the grocery store here to bring French's ketchup in. it should be in today in the gocery shippment. pretty excited about it too.
Tue, 2016-03-01 09:14
#6
So, buy French's and not Heinz.
No! Our first order of business is to boycott the public corporations under the control of the financiers and their stock markets and their ultimate demands for the bottom line!
This is essential...we must build alternatives....build our local markets and cooperatives, set up our cottage industries to process our local produce...support community agricultural systems!
And above all build a movement oriented political organization in this support...as you can be guaranteed they will do everything possible to ban everything we try...as they control the governments not we!
Tue, 2016-03-01 09:56
#7
yes!!!! i don't want my ketchup made and imported from the USA and saving farms in Ontario is ok with me too.
you go right ahead and develop your local markets and cooperatives as every community is or should be doing. i know we are.
we can do both you know it's not one or the other.
Tue, 2016-03-01 13:22
#8
Absolutely. I mean sure, actual change is brought about by advocating for better laws and better government, rather than consumer boycotts. But, if a company does screw over some workers and another company is not, then seems a good idea to favour the company that isn't screwing people around. So French's ketchup for me in the future.
Tue, 2016-03-01 14:27
#9
we can do both you know it's not one or the other....
...my reason for saying no is that a movement must be built in Canada that is prepared to boycott the stock market and bankster financed corporations, whereby its members would be looking to build alternative systems...better laws and better govrnment just won´t cut it...first the bureaucrats and their so called regulators are in the pockets of the oligarchs, the governments are bought and paid for by the same!
It is illogical to assume they will go against their own paymasters...of course if you really can´t believe that?
...we can only agree to disagree...I can write books on how the system is totally corrupted, by looking at the evidence...but I´m satisfied just by mst own endless experience with the bureaucrats, the corporate media and their paid off ?
Tue, 2016-03-01 15:00
#10
alan smithee
I'm thankful I'm the minority that dislikes ketchup and mustard, so it seems none of my money is going to them either which way 
Tue, 2016-03-01 15:36
#11
Do you like any condiments? I like mustard, but only hot (strong) kinds such as Colemans and other hot English, Dijon, some hot German brands. Of course not all of the above are imports now. Detest neon yellow "ballpark" mustard. Don't like ketchup at all but do like flavourful (not deathly-hot) hot sauces.
Tue, 2016-03-01 16:36
#12
alan smithee
I like hot sauce. I hate virtually every condiment safe mayo occasionally. There's an excellent Taco Stand near me...Chorizo with the 'fire' sauce...Very tasty.
Tue, 2016-03-01 17:44
#13
When I was in high school I had a friend who wouldn't eat any condiment at all.
We worked on a "chip wagon" together one summer, and it was funny watching him eat a hotdog or a hamburger with absolutely nothing on it. And when the condiment dispensers needed refilling I had to do it because just the sight of them -- particularly the Willie's Zucchini Relish -- would make him start gagging.
Tue, 2016-03-01 18:42
#14
Do you like any condiments? I like mustard, but only hot (strong) kinds such as Colemans and other hot English, Dijon, some hot German brands. Of course not all of the above are imports now. Detest neon yellow "ballpark" mustard. Don't like ketchup at all but do like flavourful (not deathly-hot) hot sauces.
My italian brother in law calls it children's mustard.
I will definitely look for French's Ketchup and encourage everyone I know to do the same.
Tue, 2016-03-01 18:53
#15
I still buy Heinz tomato paste, because it is union made. Does anyone know if it is made in Canada.
Tue, 2016-03-01 18:53
#16
I still buy Heinz tomato paste, because it is union made. Does anyone know if it is made in Canada.
Tue, 2016-03-01 20:33
#17
yes support Heinz! And its Unions, which no doubt is giving a considerable support to the republican and democratic fascists to conduct
more imperialist wars bringing the planet to the brink of extinction..this is not dramatic...it is reality!
And the bankers supporting Heinz and their scam ripoffs destroying the world economic system, extracting whatever real assets they can transferring them into investments in paper assets, making life unbearable for people trying to live, to eat, to have shelter!
Can´t you see it? It is a chain of command destroying humanity and the planet, like some monstrous machine totally out of human control!
Tue, 2016-03-01 20:38
#18
So basically, Heinz ketchup --> unions --> fascism --> (more stuff) --> world destruction.
Anyone ever buy banana ketchup? No, seriously, it exists. It varies, brand to brand, but if you get the right one it tastes just like tomato ketchup (and it's also the correct colour of red) but it's made from bananas. Seek it out next time you're in an Asian grocery.
Tue, 2016-03-01 20:45
#19
Yes, I've seen it but not bought it, because I feared that it would be overly sweet.
Iyraste, you have greatly exceeded your exclamation point quota. Nothing to say about the anti-trade-union stuff.
Tue, 2016-03-01 23:19
#20
Heinz is union made? Hmm, that presents a quandary if French's isn't.
When I bought crappy cold cereals I would always buy Kellogg's because they were both union made and had the union label on their products. I recently bought a Kellogg's product again and noted it did not have the union made label on it. My discovery of this only added to my pre-coffee dread of everything in the morning. Is Kellogg's no longer union made? It's not a big deal, since I generally eat oatmeal and raisins. But, like my oncoming old age and seeing cherished things disappear, it's kinda bothering me.
Tue, 2016-03-01 23:53
#21
bagkitty
When I was in high school I had a friend who wouldn't eat any condiment at all.
We worked on a "chip wagon" together one summer, and it was funny watching him eat a hotdog or a hamburger with absolutely nothing on it. And when the condiment dispensers needed refilling I had to do it because just the sight of them -- particularly the Willie's Zucchini Relish -- would make him start gagging.
Yeah, nothing can turn you off certain types of food like having worked in the food industry that prepares them. Worked as a cook in a "legion-type" club (officers only, mind you) and had to prepare fresh coleslaw in 5 gallon batches. Even with the latex gloves on working the mayo into the shredded cabbage was somehow disgusting. And don't get me started on having to prepare liver and onions (liver arrived frozen, was cut into serving pieces on a band saw and then placed in trays in a walk in cooler to thaw a bit before cooking - reaching into the extremely cold tray of raw liver and feeling the texture... brrrrrr, still sends shivers down my spine... and since these were WWII veterans, liver and onions was extremely popular.... blech).
Wed, 2016-03-02 00:04
#22
I still buy Heinz tomato paste, because it is union made. Does anyone know if it is made in Canada.
i think the articles on this, linked above, said all purchases of tomatoes from Canadian markets farms stopped and Heinz is only purchasing their tomatoes and manufacturing their pastes in the US now. their ketchup is made from their tomatoe pastes from what the articles said.
what i find funny about this is Americans would come to Victoria, when Heinz ketchup was on sale, to buy our 'made in Canada' product. they said theirs tastes different because they use some type of syrup to make it.
Wed, 2016-03-02 00:15
#23
Heinz is union made? Hmm, that presents a quandary if French's isn't.
went and looked at my bottle of Heinz, it's Kosher and non-union made. there's no union made symbol on it but there's a kosher one.
about the mustard taste off shoot discussion. i like all mustards. even yellow. if i want to go for the junk food hamburger taste you can't get it with out using it.
if i'm going for a gouda veggie sandwich then i have to have a hot honey dijon course ground. love all hot sauces and make my own chili spice mix from my and friends home grown peppers. a long nose stinging nose process for some blends.
Wed, 2016-03-02 16:40
#24
It's my understanding that other Heinz products, including their tomato paste, are still being made in Canada by Canadian workers. Not sure how many are union shops.
Wed, 2016-03-02 16:44
#25
What about catsup?
Wed, 2016-03-02 16:54
#26
Don't complicate things.
Wed, 2016-03-02 17:07
#27
Not sure why this didn't occur to me earlier.
When I lived in Dresden, ON -- I'm thinking 1982-1986 -- the local Aylmer-DelMonte processing plant made a range of tomato products with locally grown tomatoes. "The Cannery", as it was known, had a full-time, year-round staff of "steady-eddies" who were unionized, if I'm not mistaken, but during "runs" (primarily tomatoes, and beets) they hired non-permanent, non-unionized employees, as well as foreign workers (pretty much all from Jamaica).
I can't remember whether their ketchup was any good or not, but I do recally quite vividly that on any given July evening, the condensers (that turned tomato slurry into paste or ketchup or whatever) made the entire town smell like your Mom was heating up a can of tomato soup for lunch. And rather than turning one off tomato soup forever, it made one wonder whether they might have a can of tomato soup in the back of the cupboard to heat and eat -- it smelled THAT good. Go figure.
Conversely, though, on the margins of town, there were a few fields, owned by the Cannery, and used for production waste disposal. Basically, the seeds and skins were ground up, mixed with water, and sprayed onto the fields by what can only be described as giant oscillating lawn sprinklers. When it all fermented/decomposed it smelled like the outhouse on a tuna boat.
Wed, 2016-03-02 19:13
#28
.....He thought he’d do some Internet research before picking which one to buy, but the first article that came up was not what he’d expected to see: Heinz pulling out of Leamington; 740 jobs gone; plant to close.“I didn’t even know there was a town called Leamington,” he said. He was shocked such a big company could stop using Canadian ingredients and he hadn’t heard about it.......
.....Some, from Leamington and St. Mary’s, tell intimate stories of loss and struggle after the closure of their Heinz plants. One woman made Fernandez’s wife Ann-Marie cry with her story about how a contract with Highbury Canco saved her family’s tomato farm.
Mon, 2016-03-07 14:37
#29
I went to the local grocery store to buy french's ketchup they were sold out. I asked the manager when the next shipment was expected so I could make sure to get some. Here is the funny thing he said that they were having problems getting more. I go to a smaller store not one of the bit national chains.
If i was a cynic I would say that the entire anti Heinz pro French's boycott was thought up by French's to sell out their merchandise....good thing I am not a cynic :-)
Mon, 2016-03-07 16:24
#30
I went to the local grocery store to buy french's ketchup they were sold out. I asked the manager when the next shipment was expected so I could make sure to get some. Here is the funny thing he said that they were having problems getting more. I go to a smaller store not one of the bit national chains.
If i was a cynic I would say that the entire anti Heinz pro French's boycott was thought up by French's to sell out their merchandise....good thing I am not a cynic :-)
I wouldn't care if it was. It is true that Hienz pulled out and that French's is buying from Ontario processors. That's all I need to know. Now they have to up production to meet demand. That's a good thing.
Mon, 2016-03-07 16:59
#31
Now they have to up production to meet demand. That's a good thing.
The only problem is that their tomato run won't be on until late July/early August. If they or their distributors run out of stock between now and then, there's not much they can do.
Mon, 2016-03-07 17:11
#32
They can order tomatoes from other regions until they catch up and there may be a period of time when French's is unavailable but when it does become available again they know they will have customers if they push the fact that they are producing in Ontario where they reopened a plant closed by Heinz.Now they have to up production to meet demand. That's a good thing.The only problem is that their tomato run won't be on until late July/early August. If they or their distributors run out of stock between now and then, there's not much they can do.
Mon, 2016-03-07 17:46
#33
Certainly this summer they can ramp up, if their popularity persists. Sadly, I don't really need any ketchup right now, but I'm very curious to try theirs.
But meanwhile, their plant, assuming it's operational right now, is probably dedicated to something else -- the cannery in Dresden, as an example, did "cold packing" in the winter months: bring in concentrated orange juice, reconstitute it and pack it in tetra packs. I doubt they'd even be prepared to fire up their tomato line right now. And the tomatoes they'd want for good ketchup aren't really going to survive the journey from Mexico anyway.
It's not for me to tell them their business, but I think they'd be squandering a lot of good publicity right now if they made half-assed ketchup from imported tomatoes (or worse yet, hothouse tomatoes) just to meet demand. Let the customers get hungry for it, and as you say, keep reminding them that it's local tomatoes, local farmers and a local producer doing things right.
Fri, 2016-03-11 12:30
#34
MPP Taras Natyshak on why you should use French's ketchup: http://www.cp24.com/video?clipId=825159&binId=1.1158693&playlistPageNum=1
Petition (sign today!): http://www.tarasnatyshak.com/put-leamington-ketchup-on-the-table-at-quee...
Whereas the ketchup being served in the dining room and cafeteria at Queen’s Park is currently not an Ontario product and,Whereas French’s Ketchup proudly uses Tomatoes grown in Leamington Ontario, and
[..]
Therefore be it resolved that the Speaker direct the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, as part of its Procurement Policy direct Dana Hospitality to exclusively serve Leamington French’s Ketchup.
ETA: Just discovered this petition already was submitted (link). Don't know if there's been any result yet though.
Fri, 2016-03-11 20:18
#35
When I was younger and lived in Dresden, we would sometimes make a road trip to Leamington for -- guess what? -- produce. They're famous for their black soil, and radishes the size of tennis balls, and basically amazing vegetables of all sorts. I think it says something when people will travel to your farm community from a different farm community to buy your stuff.
Tue, 2016-03-15 10:48
#36
Loblaws drops French's ketchup from its shelves
Metro has it, but it was a tough find, given that Heinz is everywhere, whereas French's was hidden in a small area.
Tue, 2016-03-15 14:17
#37
Tue, 2016-03-15 14:52
#38
So, buy French's and not Heinz.
No! Our first order of business is to boycott the public corporations under the control of the financiers and their stock markets and their ultimate demands for the bottom line!
This is essential...we must build alternatives....build our local markets and cooperatives, set up our cottage industries to process our local produce...support community agricultural systems!And above all build a movement oriented political organization in this support...as you can be guaranteed they will do everything possible to ban everything we try...as they control the governments not we!
Where can we purchase this proletarian revolutionary ketchup, comrade?
Tue, 2016-03-15 16:11
#39
I remember seeing a documentary about Latin American and Caribbean migrant workers in Leamington. Of course they endured exploitaiton, but through organising and building ties with local people, they succeeded in improving their conditions, and according to Wikipedia and other sources, almost 5% of the permanent population of the town is Latin-American, and there are also Jamaicans; there are Latin American (mostly Mexican and Central American) and Caribbean shops, and perusing local restaurants, these communities are also present, which is significant in that kind of Ontario farm country town. The township is also home to Pointe Pelee and Pelee Island (which lost the accents), which is known for producing very good wine.
I remember my family travelling there when I was very small, and a beautiful beach.
Support to this buying campaign has been very strong, even on "foodie" sites.
Hmm, this part of Ontario was also a hotspot for tobacco - wonder if it will take up pot production?
Tue, 2016-03-15 16:25
#40
Dresden used to get an influx of a few hundred temporary workers from Jamaica each summer. Some worked in the cannery itself, as sorters, or packers or receivers, and if I recall correctly, as many worked in the fields, usually on harvesters. They were mostly housed in dormitory-style residences on the cannery property, but I think they were also free to negotiate their own room and board arrangements if they wished.
Many of them would pull double shifts -- this income was apparently pretty substantial, by Jamaican standards, and they wanted to maximize it as much as possible. They also contributed to the local economy -- jewelry stores and hardware stores and suchlike sold plenty of radios and watches and other consumer things that the workers would bring home with them at the end of the run. And the payphone at the corner of Main and Brown did brisk business too -- during the tomato run there was always some Jamaican guy using it.
Tue, 2016-03-15 16:48
#41
Oh, and ya, tobacco. I expect most Canadians think of Tillsonburg, thanks to Stompin' Tom, but a goodly part of southwestern Ontario is tobacco country -- anywhere there's sandy soil. When I was a kid and we'd travel in the area, we'd always make note of the kilns dotting the landscape.
I hoed tobacco one summer -- it was as crummy as it sounds. Tobacco is (or was) still a very labour intensive crop. I can't see those farmers switching to marijuana, though. No matter how legal it might ever become, you probably aren't going to grow it in a wide open field bordering a road. Tobacco is difficult to cure properly, and weed's not. :)
Tue, 2016-03-29 10:45
#42
A&W restaurants has decided to use French's. Apparently French's is thinking of opening a bottling plant in Canada -- currently it's bottled in the US (using the Leamington's tomatoes for ketchup sold here). Be good if they opened a plant up here.
Wed, 2016-03-30 08:50
#43
Not sure what happened here, ended up with multiple posts ...
Wed, 2016-03-30 08:53
#44
Oh, and ya, tobacco. I expect most Canadians think of Tillsonburg, thanks to Stompin' Tom, but a goodly part of southwestern Ontario is tobacco country
Support Canadian farmers and smoke up! It's the patriotic thing to do!
A&W restaurants has decided to use French's. Apparently French's is thinking of opening a bottling plant in Canada -- currently it's bottled in the US (using the Leamington's tomatoes for ketchup sold here). Be good if they opened a plant up here.
It's currently bottled in Ohio ... so I wonder how many French's workers in Ohio will be losing their jobs when production moves to Canada?
"Their workers bad, our workers good!"; Marx would be proud.
Wed, 2016-03-30 09:27
#45
Support Canadian farmers and smoke up! It's the patriotic thing to do!
I gave up on tobacco, but I still do what I can, as often as I can.
Wed, 2016-03-30 09:31
#46
....and since these were WWII veterans, liver and onions was extremely popular.....
It don't have to be just WWII vets. Yum.
Wed, 2016-03-30 09:34
#47
It's currently bottled in Ohio ... so I wonder how many French's workers in Ohio will be losing their jobs when production moves to Canada?
"Their workers bad, our workers good!"; Marx would be proud.
The Canadian and American ketchups are different. They're playing the nationalistic card on both sides of the border, I think. The Canadian ketchup uses the Canadian tomatoes and doesn't have high-fructose corn syrup (since it's not permitted to be used here -- I'm not sure if that's the case for the ketchup for American consumers that they produce). The assumption I have is that they'd only move the production of the Canadian product (leaving the production of the American product, and presumably preserving jobs south of the border) when the markets here and there became big enough -- IE, it would be an expansion of jobs rather than a transfer of jobs.
Wed, 2016-03-30 14:13
#48
It's currently bottled in Ohio ... so I wonder how many French's workers in Ohio will be losing their jobs when production moves to Canada?
It would be a smooth move for Heinz to jump in and say "It's wrong what French's just did to some honest American workers" and open a bottling plant in Ohio.
Net difference at that point = not much, except for Ontarians and Ohioans buying twice as much ketchup as they used to, as a patriotic act of solidarity.
Sat, 2016-07-02 00:33
#49
I was in No Frills a while ago, and noticed that they began stocking French's ketchup. Then, just recently, I noticed a sale of it for $1 a bottle (the big bottles.) Now I can't find it anywhere. Seems that patriotism does not extend to buying products that are either made and/or grown in Canada. Heinz still rules supreme. A sense of caution perhaps may be best for those who feel ending trade deals and focussing on local business and produce (kinda suggested by Leap) is a sure winner for political parties. The demand for Canadian grown French's ketchup was a mere social media burp, it seems, rather than a marketing success based upon people's patriotism and concern for local farmers and businesses. Is Loblaws still carrying it? The No Frills I go to isn't any longer.
Sat, 2016-07-02 15:21
#50
I was in No Frills a while ago, and noticed that they began stocking French's ketchup. Then, just recently, I noticed a sale of it for $1 a bottle (the big bottles.) Now I can't find it anywhere. Seems that patriotism does not extend to buying products that are either made and/or grown in Canada. Heinz still rules supreme. A sense of caution perhaps may be best for those who feel ending trade deals and focussing on local business and produce (kinda suggested by Leap) is a sure winner for political parties. The demand for Canadian grown French's ketchup was a mere social media burp, it seems, rather than a marketing success based upon people's patriotism and concern for local farmers and businesses. Is Loblaws still carrying it? The No Frills I go to isn't any longer.
My Provigo, which is part of the Loblaw chain, is still carrying it. Just because No Frills dropped it doesn't mean everyone else has or will.
I think almost everyone supports trade deals in principle just not those that encroach on the rights of citizens.
Sat, 2016-07-02 15:50
#51
The Metro near me had the monster bottles on sale for $3 recently, and I couldn't even buy one because I'd bought a monster bottle of Heinz at NoFrills (also for $3) just a few weeks earlier, and realistically, the huge bottle is a year's supply for me.
My guess is that they were just liquidating the remainder of last year's production. If French's wants to use Ontario field tomatoes then they have to wait for this summer's run. If Heinz is happy to use whatever tomatoes they can get their hands on then they're probably already stocking stores with new stuff.