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Loblaws Kicks French's Ketchup Off Its Shelves, Before Saying It Will Re-Stock It

An Ontario man's viral post wasn't enough to keep it in stock.

Even a viral Facebook post wasn't enough to keep French's ketchup on the shelves of one of Canada's most prominent grocery retailers.

CBC News reported Monday that Loblaws is no longer carrying French's ketchup — despite the fact that the product uses tomatoes grown in Leamington, Ont.

UPDATE: March 15 -- Loblaws told CBC News reporter Jeannie Lee that it will restock French's ketchup soon.

"Demand for the product has been consistently low," a Loblaws official told the network in an email.

"As a result, we have decided to no longer offer it as part of our regular inventory."

Since Heinz decided to pull the plug on its Canadian plant in Leamington, 740 jobs were lost. Heinz decided to make its...

Posted by Brian Fernandez on Tuesday, 23 February 2016

French's ketchup became the subject of a popular Facebook post last month after Orillia, Ont. resident Brian Fernandez pointed out why he'd choose the condiment over Heinz from now on.

Fernandez noted that French's, which is also known for its mustard, uses Leamington-grown tomatoes which are processed by Highbury Canco, a company that took over a former Heinz factory in the community two years ago.

"Absolutely love it!" Fernandez wrote of French's. "Bye. Bye. Heinz."

The post had drawn over 132,000 shares as of Monday evening.

French's Food Company president Elliott Penner told The Windsor Star that it was disappointed at Loblaws' decision, especially as the condiment has seen strong sales among Canadians.

"What we know is that we have just been overwhelmed by the support we have seen from Canadian consumers and it has made French's ketchup the fastest-growing condiment in Canada," he said. "We can't keep the product on the shelf where it is and we're just delighted by that."

Loblaws' decision comes after it promoted French's ketchup in garlic and Buffalo flavours in a December ad campaign.

"It was probably our best ad with them ever," Penner said.

Loblaws told CBC News that it takes up a 34.1 market share of food retailers in Canada.

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