The certification body Les Produits du Québec wants to help Quebecers buy local at Walmart. These two entities announced Monday a partnership to highlight local producers in the Quebec branches of the American company.
Buying local doesn’t rhyme with Walmart in everyone’s mind. However, last year the company had around 480 Quebec suppliers. How to spot them in the mass of products coming from all over the world? Starting this week, there will be labels and posters in stores bearing the Produits du Québec logos.
“We are in the process of transforming our website to also make these products easily accessible for online purchase,” said Cyrille Ballereau, vice-president of operations for Quebec at Walmart.
Founded in 2022, the non-profit organization grants three levels of certification, namely “Designed in Quebec”, “Made in Quebec” and “Product of Quebec”. Currently, 145 companies that requested them have obtained these seals for 53,000 products following a verification process. Its main funder is the provincial government.
At Walmart, there are currently around 1,000 products from 20 suppliers that have been approved by Les Produits du Québec. Among them are Cascades toilet paper, cosmetics from Groupe Marcelle and natural health products from Adrien Gagnon.
“The Arts and Crafts Fair, the artisans, are important. But there are also everyday consumer products, which the consumer can choose on a daily basis in their purchasing journey,” commented Elfi Morin, general director of Produits du Québec.
The organization already has associations with retailers BMR, SAIL, DeSerres, JC Perreault, Pharmacies Jean Coutu, Brunet, La Vie en Rose and Souris Mini.
The Quebec Minister for the Economy, Christopher Skeete, said he wanted to “spread the good news” on this issue. “The advantage of Quebec Products is that the average Quebecer is reassured that the product they are buying is truly Quebecois. And there will be easy access to it through a renowned retailer like Walmart,” he commented.
The place for local shops
This initiative is distinct from the Blue Basket, which for its part aims to promote Quebec merchants, regardless of the origin of the products they sell.
This announcement comes on the heels of Cyber Monday and Black Friday, mass consumption days when “a majority (65%) of small retailers expect to lose sales to multinationals and e-commerce giants ”, according to a press release from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
According to the Barometer of the Quebec Retail Council – Consumer Panel from February 2023, 64% of people indicated that they would be “more inclined to choose non-food Quebec products if they were easily identifiable”. Furthermore, 55% of respondents consider that it is already easy to identify these products and 72% rely on the label or packaging to identify them.