Latest news with #Palmateer
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boycotting American. What's involved in a Toronto pizzeria owner's personal crusade?
The owner of a popular Toronto pizzeria, Gram Palmateer, decided to wage his own boycott when Donald Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on Canadian goods. Not to mention his threat to annex the whole country. That was the end of the line for American ingredients at Gram's Pizza. With the tariffs now a reality, Gram Palmateer's boycott is not only baked in, it's in full delivery mode. 'I wouldn't say my boycott has become more determined,' says Palmateer. 'It is already permanent.' A recent Angus Reid poll found that four in five Canadians are intent on buying Canadian — substituting American products. We asked Gram how he began his boycott. Here's what he told us. What's involved in substituting American ingredients? Finding Canadian ingredients to substitute for American items can be easier said than done, as Palmateer found at first. The transition underwent some initial speedbumps. For example, he had trouble sourcing Canadian diet soft drinks. Items such as local mushrooms are more expensive. He had to look beyond Canada for some items, such as switching from California-grown Stanislaus tomatoes to a comparable brand from Italy. However, that hasn't been much of an impediment. In general, he uses local produce that is in season. He had more success with other products, such as replacing Ohio-based Ezzo pepperoni with pepperoni from Salamina, a Quebec-based company. His flour is made with Ontario grain. Finding Canadian cheese? Well that was an easy one. What about American soft drinks? American soft drinks such as Coca-Cola have been replaced with beverages from Canadian makers such as Pop Shoppe and Sap Sucker. Toronto's mayor, Olivia Chow, has jumped on Gram's boycott bandwagon. She promoted it in an Instagram post. 'When Trump threatened tariffs, Gram's Pizza, near Dupont and Dundas, decided to buy local. They switched to Canadian pop, Canadian flour, and Canadian pepperoni — they already used Canadian cheese,' she wrote. Did he need to change the distribution of his pizzas? It hasn't just been about ingredients and pop. Palmateer stopped using Costco as a distributor and switched to A1 Cash & Carry for supplies. At the end of the day, his operating costs have only increased slightly. That's good news for his customers who haven't faced price jumps. How have Gram's customers reacted? Palmateer said his customer base seems happy with his boycott initiative. Regular customers have shown their support for the initiative. Even better, new customers have come calling to due to his patriotic efforts. 'My customers have been overwhelmingly supportive, and business is up considerably. We've also received many calls from apologetic Americans. The negative comments I received are all online from cowardly Americans and, bizarrely, pro-Trump Canadians,' says Palmateer. 'Those folks are a special kind of stupid,' he adds. He plans to continue sourcing non-American ingredients as part of a broader effort to encourage customers to think about these issues. And he continues to search for Canadian-owned and locally produced kitchen supplies, which he says have been surprisingly difficult to find. What will Gram do down the road? Even if the Trump administration backs off on tariffs, Palmateer plans to continue down his new road. A few other downtown food and drink establishments have followed his lead. The Madison Avenue Pub and Paupers Pub have begun removing U.S.-sourced products and ingredients from their menus. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
CBC
03-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Toronto pizzeria cuts out U.S. ingredients until Americans make 'more responsible electoral decisions'
A Toronto pizza maker says he won't use U.S. ingredients in his pies as long as Donald Trump is president. Graham Palmateer, owner of Gram's Pizza in Toronto's west end, says he's swapped out every U.S. product in his shop's fridge and pantry for Canadian or international alternatives. The move comes as Trump threatens to slap 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and use "economic force" to turn Canada into the 51st state. "I'll be avoiding American products for the foreseeable future, until our friends from the South make some more responsible electoral decisions," Palmateer told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. "Everybody's been really, really supportive of the switch, and it's been very easy, actually." 'It's sending a message' While many Canadians are reacting to Trump's threats by buying Canadian, or boycotting U.S. products, food economist Michael von Massow says this is the first he's heard of a restaurant making the switch. "I think it's an interesting thing to do, and it's sending a message," the University of Guelph professor told CBC. But following in Palmateer's footsteps would be a huge challenge for many restaurants, he says, because Canada is reliant on U.S. trade for certain foods. A lot of fresh produce, he says, comes exclusively from the U.S. in the winter. So if a restaurateur wants to serve up salads full of leafy greens year-round, they'd have no choice but to buy American. "When we as consumers decide to buy only Canadian, one of the options we have is to change what we're eating. That's more difficult to do if you're a restaurant and you have a menu," von Massow said. So far, Palmateer says the change hasn't impacted his prices or his bottom line, though he admits his establishment "might be a peculiar case in that regard." Gram's Pizza, after all, is very small operation with a narrow and specific menu. Pizza staples like cheese, flour and pepperoni are all easily sourced in Canada. Palmateer says he doesn't use a lot of fresh produce out of season. He used to blend canned tomatoes from California with ones from Italy, but now he exclusively uses the latter. He ditched beverages from Coca Cola Company for Canadian sodas Pop Shoppe and Sap Sucker, which he says has proven cheaper. He dropped Costco as as a supplier in favour of the Canadian company Mia Food Service, which admittedly, has raised the cost of some of his ingredients, including mushrooms. "It's hard to beat Costco's buying power, you know, as a large company. But I haven't really had to raise my prices at all," he said. "I'm expecting some prices to go up at some point. But, you know, I'm just the pizza maker. I'm not an economist. So we'll see what happens." WATCH | Buy Canadian trend makes an impact: 'Buy Canadian' starting to have an impact on retail market 21 days ago Duration 2:33 Like many Canadians, von Massow says he's been trying to cut out American products at home, and buy Canadian ones where possible. But he admits buying Canadian can be a bit of a minefield, as many products cross the border in the course of production. "You'll have pigs that are born in Ontario, raised by Ontario farmers, fattened by Ontario farmers, and then shipped to the U.S. for processing because there's not enough processing here in Canada," he said. "When they're coming back, is that Ontario pork or is that U.S. pork?" Want to buy Canadian? There's an app for that 'Made in Canada' vs. 'Product of Canada' — What's the difference? Still, he encourages Canadians to keep looking for local alternatives, even if that means relying on frozen veggies in the winter, or sticking with more shelf-staple ones, like carrots and onions. "By not buying American, we're not going to bring the U.S. economy to its knees. But .... we are going to impact specific companies in the U.S. who will be talking to their who will be talking to their politicians," he said. "So I think that that's a good thing. I think we can do this without substantially increasing the costs we pay if we're willing to be flexible." Palmateer says he hopes to encourage others to think about where their food comes from. "I would hope that we as Canadians sort of look to each other to source products more than looking to our neighbours. We're producing a lot of great products in this country," he said. "If me getting press because of this switch encourages others to look locally for great products, then that's a step in the right direction."
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Canada pizzeria joins boycott of US ingredients in retaliation to Trump's tariffs
A pizzeria in Toronto has joined the ever growing number of Canadian institutions to stage boycotts of American products, following Donald Trump 's threats to put exorbitant tariffs on his neighbor to the north. Graham Palmateer, owner of Gram's Pizza, has done away completely with U.S. products, relying on homegrown ingredients or ones imported from Europe. 'I just decided I was done with the US. I wanted to move away from American companies,' he told The Guardian. 'Canadians know Americans pretty well, and we don't always agree with the choices that they make. A lot of us are disappointed, to put it mildly.' On Thursday Trump doubled down on his deadline next Tuesday for imposing the 25 percent duties on more than $900 billion worth of annual imports from Canada and Mexico, citing insufficient progress in reducing fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. Palmateer says he initially found it difficult to source certain items including Canadian diet soda, and other items including mushrooms and tomatoes were more expensive to source locally. He now uses a Quebec-based company to source pepperoni, and his flour is made with Ontario grain. 'On the pizza front, nothing will really change, except for the odd one-off topping that we sometimes source from down south,' he wrote on Instagram. 'I do use California tomatoes in the shop, so I'll be opting for just the Italian brands for a while, unless they also happen to choose fascism soon. It's a bummer. 'But I'm voting with my dollar, if you will. I know, insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I'll sleep better.' However, he says such changes have not had much of an impact on his costs. 'By and large, I haven't had to change pricing,' Palmateer told The Guardian. 'If [the boycott] encourages someone else to also do the same thing and divest, that's a good step.' It comes after a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that four in five Canadians have been buying more Canadian products since the president doubled down on his threats of tariffs. Elsewhere, coffee shops across Canada have staged small protests of their own, renaming their Americanos as 'Canadianos.' Despite most coffee shop owners wanting to remain apolitical, the trend of renaming the popular drink – made up of an espresso shot and water – has taken hold. The 'Canadiano' revolution began with a since-deleted Instagram post from British Columbia -based coffee company Kicking Horse Coffee, which urged shops to change the names of their drinks to something more patriotic. Kicking Horse's cafe menu lists a 'Canadiano' and has done for 16 years, according to the company. 'We're officially making it a thing and asking coffee shops across the country to make the switch,' the post said, per The Washington Post.
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘I decided I was done': Canada pizzeria boycotts US ingredients in tariff dispute
Tucked away in a former garage space in Toronto's west end, Gram's Pizza, is usually packed with diners hankering for anything from a classic pepperoni to vodka and hot hawaiian. Lately, however, owner and chef Graham Palmateer has made some changes to how he makes his pizzas. After Donald Trump threatened to slap a 25% tariff on Canadian goods – and even to annex the whole country – Palmateer decided to banish US ingredients from his restaurant. 'I just decided I was done with the US. I wanted to move away from American companies,' he said. 'Canadians know Americans pretty well, and we don't always agree with the choices that they make. A lot of us are disappointed, to put it mildly.' Making the switch has not been the easiest task: the two countries' economies have been tightly bound through a longstanding free trade agreement since the late 1980s. But years of cross-border trade and investment has blurred the lines on country of origin: in the car manufacturing industry, for example, a vehicle passes the border an average of seven times during the manufacturing process. Those attempting to impose a full boycott of consumer goods have been caught off-guard at grocery stores where 'Made In Canada' products might contain some US ingredients. And while Canada's political leaders have at times appeared to be flailing in their response to Trump's threat, ordinary Canadians have decided to get their retaliation in early, and boycott American goods. A poll this month by the Angus Reid Institute published found that since Trump revived his threat of tariffs, four in five Canadians have been buying more Canadian products. Some grocery stores have even labeled which items are made by Canadian producers. Bar Sazerac in Hamilton, about an hour west of Toronto, is no longer using American alcohol in its menu. Palmateer said his transition to Canadian ingredients had some bumps initially. He had trouble sourcing Canadian diet soda, while some items, like mushrooms, are more expensive to source locally. Instead of Californian tomatoes, he opted for canned ones from Italy. But he has since gotten into the swing of things. He uses a Quebec-based company to source pepperoni, the flour he uses is made with Ontario grain and cheese is easy to source from Canadian suppliers. The cost of operating has increased slightly, 'but by and large, I haven't had to change pricing', he said. Kenneth Wong, an associate professor at the business school at Queen's University in Ontario, said he had been surprised by an apparently organic response among Canadian consumers: on a visit to his local grocery store, homegrown apples were sold out, while next to them, a bin of US apples appeared to be untouched. 'Canadians are bearing down in ways I never thought they would,' he said. After appearing to relent on the tariff threat, Trump on Thursday repeated his intention to apply the levy on imports from Canada on Mexico from March 4th. The continuing uncertainty has prompted Canadian provinces to lift some internal trade barriers – a move which Wong said could somewhat reduce Canada's strong reliance on the US. 'And once that fully happens, tastes will change and habits will form. I'm not saying you can't win back your consumer if you're a US firm, but I am saying it's going to be a lot more expensive to do so,' he said. Palmateer said his customer base seemed to be happy with his choice to shun American products. 'It's pretty much been positive. 'Good for you' kind of comments,' he said. One customer was upset they could no longer drink a Sprite with their Pizza. But Palmateer has since found Canadian soda brands like Sap Sucker which he hopes will fit the bill. Either way, he says he will not go back to using US ingredients. 'This boycott … is my way of voting with my dollar,' he says. 'If it encourages someone else to also do the same thing and divest, that's a good step.'
