When Heinz made its exit from Leamington, Ontario in 2013-14, a town that had come to depend upon and identify with the iconic ketchup brand felt as if their collective heart had been ripped out of their chest.
Back then, the plan was unclear: after a takeover of the entire H.J. Heinz Co. by an investment group led by eccentric billionaires Warren Buffet and Jorge Paulo Lemann, jobs would be ritually gutted month-by-month, wages slashed, and investments culled. Those employees that stuck around would hope to be hired on by the usurping company, but any futures there were far from guaranteed. Across the county, farmers assumed their years of service had come to and end; sadly, many of them were right on the money.
But in June of 2014, the Highbury Canco Corp. took over the old Heinz building, and they evidently weren’t satisfied with becoming caretakers of an undead operation. Highbury signed a contract with French’s and began production of a new product line. It was ketchup of course, but with a catch: those Leamington tomatoes that Heinz left behind would be front and center for French’s take on the classic condiment. Once again, a huge company was making a big investment in the local community; it just happened to be a different name on the bottle.
Canadians everywhere were quick to notice. A viral Facebook post from a construction worker in Orillia sparked an organic awareness campaign urging consumers to support local industry. Back in his hometown, stores couldn’t keep the French’s ketchup on the shelves.
For their part, French’s has already moved to capitalize on the wildfire success. They’ve tripled their tomato paste order from Highbury Canco already, and are in discussion to bring even more tomato production and manufacturing to the Leamington area with an expanded product line. Today, negotiations between farmers and purchasers on the price of tomatoes begin, and it couldn’t come at a better time for Ontario.
“We think that Leamington tomatoes are great quality,” said French’s president Elliott Penner, pledging to only use local tomatoes in their Canadian products.
Well, Elliott, the feeling is mutual.
Awesome! I will be purchasing French’s ketchup from now on. 🙂
hmm interesting I always wondered why it took French’s so long to come out with ketchup when they have been doing the whole Mustard thing forever.
Manufacturing…. not manufactoring. Jeez, simple spelling.
Give it a rest, like YOU have never made a mistake before.
Must be nice to be so perfect.
Is the above picture on a fb page? If so, I would like to share it on my personal fb page and promote the French’s ketchup!
It should have shared to the SmartCanucks facebook page when it posted, or on the post you can share to facebook and the main image should share with the post
Awesome I hope it makes its way to Quebec
Thanks for the info. I have French’s in the fridge, and we like it.
Oh it’s great for now, until French Food company, an American company as well decides it needs to cut operations. There is no winning, plain and simple, it’s smoke and mirrors but keep believe whatever you want to believe until the hammer comes down.
I can understand the rally cry from Lemmington to support FRENCH food Company… and i guess i would be very pro FRENCH if i was from the town… but seriously HENIZ been supporting Lemmington since 1908… Why is Lemmington playing the victim card here.
I haven’t seen this on the shelves but believe me, I will be buying it when I do.
Thanks for letting us know.
What this post doesn’t say is that Heinz still produces and/or distributes about 120 other products in the town, at the same plant where the ketchup was made and so 400 townspeople there still have jobs because of Heinz. I heard this man in an interview and he did say people should not boycott the other Heinz products. Do a search and you can check all this out for yourself. So I think the story that’s getting out there is one-sided and this boycott is short-sighted.