Introducing a top-quality Canadian product and getting it into customer hands is easier said than done.
With the buy local movement taking shape across the country in response to the threat of tariffs on goods entering the U.S. and talk of Canada becoming the 51st state, one Toronto-area manufacturer said retailers have shown little interest in stocking the only Canadian-made parchment baking paper.
Kathleen Chapman, the president of operations and logistics at aVenco Canada, said she and her partners have been trying to get the Bowmanville-based business off the ground since it was founded in the summer of 2023.
“When I saw all this made-in-Canada talk start I thought, ‘You know what, we’re going to see some real change in behaviour with retailers. They’re going to pick up the phone. They’re going to answer the calls. They’re going to respond to emails,’” Chapman said.
“I’m shocked that they do not seem motivated when there is a competitively-priced Canadian option that they’re not jumping at taking it.”
Chapman said aVenco was founded after a parchment paper company she and her current team previously worked for decided during the COVID-19 crisis to move its Scarborough operations to the U.S. four years ago. It was the largest parchment paper company in Canada at the time, growing to become a $50-million business that employed about 50 people and accounted for approximately 90% of all branded products, she added.
That gave Chapman and her team an opportunity to enter the Canadian market and fill the gap for private label and branded parchment paper, and hopefully get a foothold in the U.S. as well.
The business, which is majority owned by women, secured a warehouse in Bowmanville for three years and has been fighting to get any kind of market share ever since.
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And with the recent buy local trend, Chapman hopes aVenco’s fortunes turns around soon.
“We’ve been at this for two years,” she said. “We have over $2 million invested. We have this building secured ’til the summer of 2026. Basically the mindset right now is if we can’t get any traction then we have to call it a failure. We don’t want to do that because there’s no reason why the retailers cannot step up on this type of product and support something more local. The response has been disappointing to say the least.”
Chapman said the business is owned by Canadians, and manufactures and packages its products here. It sources supplies locally while importing the raw paper from France. Europe and China are the only two places that manufacture parchment paper.
She added their products have more certifications and is more sustainable than what is available on the market right now, allowing the paper to be compostable and recyclable.
She hopes that by speaking out that grocery chains and stores change the way they operate and choose to stock not only her company’s products but a greater selection of Canadian goods, not only due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and annexation talk, but for the economic future of the country as well.
“How do we as consumers and Canadians make retailers put their money where their mouth is and start backing (Canadians). You listen to a lot of Canadians. They’re willing to pay a little bit more to get Canadian (goods). So the mindset of, ‘It has to be the cheapest product,’ is not necessarily holding true these days.”