
Demand from ‘buy Canadian' movement pushes Purdys to move into grocer Save-On-Foods
Purdys Chocolatier says the buy Canadian movement has generated so much demand for its products that it decided to sell them outside its own stores for the first time in its 118-year-old history.
Kriston Dean, the Vancouver-based confectionary company's vice-president of marketing and sales, says as soon as tariff tensions emerged, shoppers' interest in the brand was piqued.
The brand's website traffic jumped more than 200 per cent and searches about whether it is Canadian popped by a whopping 300 per cent.
When Easter rolled around, the spiking interest translated into a 25 per cent increase in new customers compared with the year before.
Such numbers gave the company the confidence to forge a deal with Pattison Food Group to put four varieties of Purdys chocolates on the shelves of western Canadian grocer Save-On-Foods.
Dean says Purdys is watching to see how its chocolates perform at Save-On-Foods to help determine whether it should expand its brand even further outside its own stores.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Globe and Mail
3 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Why the absence of a U.S. trade deal might be a good thing
Canada failed to secure a trade deal with the U.S. by the Aug. 1 deadline. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on certain Canadian goods to 35 per cent. And while other trading partners announced agreements with Trump, Ottawa enters its sixth month of negotiations. But recently, both Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump have doubted whether a deal can be made without some tariffs in place – or if a deal's coming at all. Today, Globe columnist Tony Keller joins the show. He'll share what we know about the negotiations, what Trump wants, where Carney's 'elbows up' mentality has gone, and as more countries accept deals with blanket tariff rates, whether avoiding a deal could be Canada's best strategy. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@


CTV News
3 minutes ago
- CTV News
Scooping success: 11-year-old P.E.I. entrepreneur serves sundaes and smiles
Maria Sarrouh talks to an 11-year-old entrepreneur in P.E.I regarding her success in running an ice cream business. When customers ring the bell at Scooper's Dairy Bar in Brudenell, P.E.I., the pint-sized employee behind the counter can sometimes be a surprise. Roya Cooper, 11, is turning her summer break into sweet profit. She runs the shop herself, checking freezer temperatures, scooping sundaes and balancing the books. 'They think that I'm way older,' Roya said. Some cash she had saved up helped start the shop. A loan through the Community Business Development Corporation, a not-for-profit network that finances small businesses and startups in Atlantic Canada, covered the rest. 'I thought ice cream was really cool. I liked eating it, and I wanted to start a business,' she said. It is not her first enterprise. At just six years old, she made French books out of post-it notes, 'She sold those bad boys for $5 apiece to tourists,' said her mom, Ambyr Cooper. 'She loves money. Always has.' Roya gets her hard-working nature from her parents. They run several businesses, including the Brudenell Riding Stables next door. '(We're) super proud,' said Carson Cooper, her dad. 'She's so good at doing everything,' added her mom. 'It's a way harder job than you think it is.' Scoop work can be sticky. Roya says chipping into the tubs takes muscle, and she often finds herself managing staff years older than she is. Her last employee threw in the towel. 'Too much cleaning for her,' the young owner said. 'Some are like, 'I don't really need to do this because I don't need to listen to you,' but others actually respect me.' So for now, she's working seven days a week, until she finds a replacement – or school starts. Most customers leave happy. 'I love the ice cream. And the chocolate, of course, is my favourite,' one patron said. Still, Roya has learned she can't please everyone. 'Some are like, this ice-cream scoop isn't so big. You have to redo it.' Her latest creation is nacho ice cream, a big scoop topped with sprinkles, sauce and waffle chips. But Roya's favourite flavour is peanut butter fudge crunch. After closing up, she goes home and handcrafts earrings shaped like mini ice-cream cones. She packages the accessories, then sells them from a small display outside, adding another revenue stream to her store. She says she wants to serve many more sundaes in the years to come, and her dream is for the business to grow with her.


CBC
4 minutes ago
- CBC
As U.S. whisky finally runs dry, Toronto bars pitch local dupes
Social Sharing Toronto whisky drinkers are inching closer and closer to their new, elbows-up reality: a city completely and utterly without bourbon. At Parkdale's Danu Social House in the city's west end, that reality is nearly there. Five months since the LCBO pulled U.S. alcohol from its shelves, the bar is devoid of cheaper bourbon, with only the final dregs of top shelf brands like Angel's Envy and Woodford Reserve remaining — and they'll cost you more than they used to. "Because it's in limited supply, I charge more for it, right?" said Scott Swain, Danu bar manager. "It's a premium product right now." Despite the higher and higher prices for those not-easily-replaceable top-shelf bottles, he said that "a few times a month" a bourbon die-hard will still ask for a old fashioned or whisky sour made with that distinctive pre-trade-war flavour profile. Bourbon has to be made using at least 51 per cent corn mash, aged in new oak barrels, and, most importantly, experts say, it has to be produced in the U.S. "There's nothing I can do to change their mind. They've made it up and that's just what they want," said Swain. 'Bourbon-style' flavour in a Canadian bottle For those who are willing to embrace a new favourite, Danu has jumped on the challenge of re-working its menu to highlight Canadian whiskys, adjusting cocktails like the old fashioned to compensate for the loss of bourbon's sweet, caramel notes, and hosting a local whisky tasting. "Even in Canadian whisky there are very bourbon-style flavours to be seen," said Swain. A couple of his favourite substitutes are Beaver's Dram and Stalk and Barrel. "People are more excited to see something new," he said. "With all the extra space now that bourbon has gone at the LCBO, there's been a lot more space for local selection." A 20-minute drive east from Danu Social House, the staff at Novotel Hotel's Cafe Nicole on The Esplanade has a similar strategy to keep customers satisfied (and tipsy). Food and beverage manager Chand Shaik said their bourbon alternative comes from Newfoundland. "It's Signal Hill … and it's been a big seller," Shaik said. For those unwilling to make the switch, Cafe Nicole still has some premium bourbon options, though prices have gone from $14 to as much as $20 for a drink, Shaik said. He expects that supply to last at most three more months. Other pinch points Nearby pub Scotland Yard, meanwhile, took the plunge and burned through the last of its U.S. booze after the LCBO ban was first announced. Owner Daniel Hnatiw said they made the decision not to stockpile and to move onto new Canadian suppliers, though he has some regrets. "I would have had a little more bourbon on hand, maybe just to give us a little more time to pivot," he said. "If we had a little more, it would have given us a little more runway time to make the changes." Of course, whisky's not the only arena where bars are facing issues. Hnatiw said prices have also gone up for other products sourced from the U.S., such as kitchen equipment, wax lining for dishes and even receipt papers. Novotel has had to pivot its wine program towards Ontario now that the California bottles they used to rely on are gone. While Danu is finding it harder to get some liquors that get shipped through the U.S., such as Kahlua.