It’s always nice to receive a treat or two from family or a friend.
It’s even better when it is Canadian-made by a local business.
In the shadow of a brewing trade war from south of the border, consumers are increasingly voting with their dollars and choosing to buy local.
For local gift box companies, making efforts to source products from the Toronto area, across Ontario and the rest of the country has allowed them to build their operations into successful businesses.
“A lot of people would say local products, and they would always think about local being their neighbourhood or their city,” said Sana Virji, of Toronto-based The Happy Box. “For us, local has been Canadian.”
Virji, who co-founded the company with her partner, Ribat Chowdhury, at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, said products that go into their gift boxes include Quebec maple syrup, chocolates from Nova Scotia and Yukon artisanal soaps.
Thinking they would only be in business for a couple of weeks to help support small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 shutdowns, the duo created theme boxes that friends, family and companies could gift to other people. They sold 100 boxes within hours of launching.
Five years later, the company has shipped more than 40,000 gift boxes across the country.
Virji said Canadians are coming to understand that while buying local may be a small gesture, it can also be impactful.
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“It’s really important for our businesses because it is the way for them to grow,” Virji said. “If we want Canadian businesses to be able to have a larger footprint, that starts with us shopping at home ourselves.”
Saul Brown, president and founder of Saul Good Gift Co., said a trade war would have a minimal effect on his business as it sources only local products.
However, he is concerned reciprocal tariffs on Canadian goods would have an impact on people’s budgets.
“A lot of folks were are talking with a lot of uncertainty with everything going on right now and hesitation to spend money when there is a potential recession in the works,” Brown said.
The gift baskets, which ship from Toronto and Vancouver, include handpicked local goods and artisan-made products from across Canada, including chocolates, organic potato chips and popcorn. There is also a line of baby products.
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In times like this, Brown said, it is very important to buy local.
“We founded our business on the premise of supporting local businesses,” he said. “Locally-owned businesses recirculate profits back into the local economy four-to-eight times more compared to multinational companies.”
And that has the effect of creating and maintaining vibrant communities, he added.
Katie Brooks, president and CEO of Giftii, a family-run operation that ships gift boxes from London, Ont., said tariffs won’t affect the business in a major way because products are mainly sourced from Canadian companies.
“Supporting Canadian small business has always been a tenet of our company,” Brooks said. “The products that we purchase from our suppliers are generally made in Canada.”
Giftii offers curated gift boxes of unique items, many of which are locally crafted. Available items include sweets, gourmet food, home decor and self-care products.
Brooks, who founded the company in 2016 with her husband, said it is extremely important to support the Canadian economy and buy local in light of tariff threats.
“It has been something that has been a foundation of our business since we started,” she said. “This isn’t new to us, but with what’s been going on, it’s come to the forefront of more people’s minds.”