COME ON COSTCO - IT’S LIKE YOU’RE NOT EVEN TRYING
In my firm, we dealt in lies. Advertising is that… the skilful use of the truth to mislead, to spoil, to debase.” - Storm Jameson
Like many Canadians these days I am trying to buy “Canadian” as much as possible. To be more precise, I am trying to NOT buy from the U.S. But it’s not always a black and white issue. In a perfect world, I would purchase only items that are grown or manufactured locally. But that’s not always possible both for logistic and economic reasons.
As a retired senior citizen on a fixed income it just doesn’t make sense for me not to do at least some of my shopping at Costco. Yes, Costco is a U.S. owned company but they do have a Canadian presence with over 100 outlets across Canada that employs over 50,000 Canadians. Doesn’t that qualify as supporting local people?
But it doesn’t end there. We also still check the origin of the products we purchase at Costco. Obviously I’m not going to find any oranges that are grown in Canada. Nor is it always possible to find other fruits or vegetables that are grown in Canada but are currently out of season. And then of course there are other products that might not originate in Canada that can be processed in Canada.Those at least support the Canadian economy to some degree.
These are all considerations that have to be taken into account. We have decided on the following criteria as our rule of thumb.
To purchase products made and processed in Canada whenever possible.
Failing that, to purchase products with as much Canadian content as possible.
If it isn’t grown, manufactured or processed in Canada it should at least be grown, manufactured or processed in any other country in the world BUT the U.S.
To achieve this we must rely on packaging claims but it seems some retailers have a tendency to be a little less than forthcoming with these claims.
There were a few issues we had during our last visit to Costco. Message to Costco: If you have provided no clear indication of the country of origin of your products, I”m going to assume the country of origin is the United States and will leave those products on your shelf. I hope they rot there.
MADE IN CANADA FROM DOMESTIC AND IMPORTED INGREDIENTS
What does that even mean? These are NOT “made in Canada” nor anywhere else. They are BRUSSEL SPROUTS! They are GROWN somewhere… but the question is where? This is a bag of fresh brussel sprouts. What part of the brussel sprout ingredients are domestic and what part of the brussel sprout ingredients are imported? Can someone please explain this to me?
PACKED BY LES ALIMENTS BERCY, MONTREAL, QC CANADA
Costco was also offering brussel sprouts from another supplier. These brussel sprouts are at least packaged in Canada. That’s a bonus. But there is still no indication as to the country of origin of these brussel sprouts. I’m a little insulted that Costco would think their members are that stupid to be fooled into thinking these brussel sprouts may have been grown in Canada.
BRUSSEL SPROUTS PRODUCT OF U.S. OR NETHERLANDS
The sign for the brussel sprouts finally provided the countries of origin of their brussel sprouts. Sort of. The best Costco seems to be able to do is narrow it down to either the U.S. or Netherlands. But which package is which? Needless to say we didn’t purchase any brussel sprouts on our trip to Costco as we had no indication which of the Brussel Sprouts were from the U.S. and which were from the Netherlands. That wasn’t much of a hardship for me but My Shirley enjoys them so we will settle to pay a little more for our brussel sprouts at another grocery store that provides a little more clarity with their labeling.
BROCCOLI FLORETS PRODUCT OF U.S. OR MEXICO
Here we go again. Why does Costco think I want to play guessing games? As with the broccoli the signage indicates they are offering broccoli florets from two suppliers, one being from the U.S. and the other being from Mexico.
BROCCOLI FLORETS PRODUCT OF MEXICO
Unlike the brussel sprouts it was a little easier to determine which package of broccoli florets were an acceptable choice. But come on, Costco. Why do I have to search all over the packaging and sometimes read the fine print for this information? My time is valuable too.
KIRKLAND DISH SOAP IMPORTED BY
PROPER LABELLING
I worked at the Costco Warehouse in Barrie when they first opened in December 1993 even before Kirkland Signature products existed. While employed at Costco I learned much about Costco Culture. It is no secret that Costco suppliers work very hard to meet Costco’s sometimes very demanding requirements in exchange for the privilege of being accepted as an approved Costco supplier.
Packaging for all products must include the Costco Item # so they are already including information specific to Costco on their packaging. Why can’t Costco insist that all suppliers also include the country of origin to be clearly marked on every product they sell?
The answer is, they can and they can with little more than a wave of the hand. All it would take is the addition of a single line on their contracts with their suppliers. So why don’t they? In fact shouldn’t this already have been a Canadian legal requirement for ALL products sold in Canada under the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act (CPLA) long before the tariff wars even began?
Declaring the country of origin is not a requirement under the CPLA as one might think, however the Canada Border Services Agency does require a country of origin marking… but only on specific goods. This needs to change. Why should the country of origin of anything sold in Canada be a secret to the consumer?
In the meantime, as a conscientious corporate citizen, I challenge Costco to take the lead to ensure all products they sell are properly and clearly labelled with the country of origin as a show of good faith towards the consumers of the country they wish to continue to do business in.
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