As the threat of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump looms, there has been a push in B.C. and Canada to ‘Buy Local.’
However, one B.C. business says bureaucracy is making it hard to sell local.
Bahram Rashti, owner of UP Vertical Farms in Pitt Meadows, told Global News it has been a challenge to get their products onto B.C. shelves, even though they are a B.C.-based company.
“We didn’t expect that it would be this frustrating and that it would take this long,” he said.
“We have been successful (in getting) it into certain retailers like Costco and the Costco buyers have been extremely, extremely helpful but some of the biggest retail chains otherwise have not provided the support that we are looking for.”
Rashti said he hoped the buy local movement sparked by Trump’s tariff threats would be the turning point to make it easier for B.C. companies, but that does not appear to have been the case.
“It hasn’t happened for the last three years and that just seems to be wrong.”
Rashti said they recently started sending their products to the U.S. and it has been well received.
“I still don’t understand how it was that much easier to get it down south of the border and still so difficult to get it onto the Canadian retail shelves, not just in B.C., all across western Canada and we don’t understand what the impediment is,” he said.
Rashti said their product is actually listed as cheaper than some of the American products that are imported into the province.
The B.C. government says it is ultimately up to retailers as to what they put on their shelves but those same retailers should be aware of the growing desire for Canadians to consume local.
“Right now there is such a massive shift in what people are looking at, either hyper local B.C. or Canadian-made products,” Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham said.
The province is also bulking up its ‘Buy BC’ program and is considering additional measures to support local growers.
“It’s up to retailers and the growers to forge the relationship, but we, as I like to say, can be the wind at their backs,” Popham said.
Rashti said he would like to see more local options for consumers.
“Canadians want to eat more Canadian-grown products,” Rashti said.
“There is a big role for government to play, to encourage more retailers to carry more Canadian-grown food and processed food and providing more options to the actual consumers.”