Tariff turmoil is pushing produce demand at N.B. farm to early pandemic levels
Buying Canadian habits have surged with Trump tariff talk
From craft beer to craft supplies, the push to buy local amid ever-changing tariff threats is making people check their packages before purchasing.
And the same goes for fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, at least according to a local farmer outside of Woodstock, N.B., who hasn't seen this kind of demand since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tim Livingstone, the owner of Strawberry Hill Farm, said the farm is extremely busy.
"I would say we've seen, dare I say, similar to pandemic-style buying," said Livingstone.
One of the areas where he is seeing high demand is with the farm's community-supported agriculture boxes, where people sign up in advance and commit to taking a box of fresh produce each week.
The spring box, which goes out every other week, has already sold out, and now Livingstone said the farm is taking sign-ups for the summer box.
"We're nearing two-thirds sold already with about three weeks being open," he said. "We've never seen this rate of sign-up. Where we are now, I think we would normally see that mid-May."
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on certain Canadian goods for weeks now. After implementing 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods last week, he once again paused them. The back-and-forth has had business owners and consumers on edge.
It has prompted some Canadians to start looking at where their products come from when at the store.
While Livingstone said it's hard to say how much the buy local trend has increased sales, since the farm has also made a big social media effort to promote the boxes, he said it is likely that 50 per cent to 75 per cent of the bump is coming from the trade dispute.
Livingstone said it is always great to get new customers, but he hopes customers understand that a local farm does not have the same capacity as a supermarket.
For example, he said produce being sold right now would have been planted in spring of 2024. So once that runs out, it is gone.
He said people wishing to shop locally should make a long-term plan.
"We have to decide, is this a sustainable surge?" said Livingstone.
"We were, like, three years after the pandemic, struggling with getting costs reigned under control again, to the point where profitability was questionable," he said.
"We're starting to see that come around, which is awesome, but at the same time, we don't want to speculate and grow a whole bunch of stuff [and then] maybe the trade war blows over and people return to, … their normal buying habits, and we end up stuck on product."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Information Morning Fredericton
