Buying Canadian

Your friends here at The Silk Road are watching the situation with American tariffs and trade threats as closely as everyone else. The threat of blanket tariffs has been alleviated for the time being, but there is certainly a chance it will become a reality at some point. If it does become a reality, we will be paying a higher cost for any American-made products and American-grown spices we carry.

In any case, we know that many of our customers are interested in buying Canadian products (and avoiding American ones) as much as possible right now.

First of all, we want to assure everyone that we are a completely Canadian business. Family owned and operated in Calgary, Alberta. Everything you buy from us benefits our Canadian staff and the local economy here in Calgary. Furthermore, all our spice blends are hand-mixed at our facility here, and all our spices are packaged and labelled by hand, at which point we feel strongly that they are Canadian products. Several of the brands of bitters and cocktail supplies we sell are Canadian-made as well.

The reality, however, is that Canada does not grow many spices. The vast majority of the individual spices, herbs, and chiles we sell are sourced from around the world and are grown in places like India, Indonesia, Spain, Hungary, Mexico, and other warm climates. And yes, a few of them are grown or produced in the United States (mostly California). This fluctuates based on supply and season, so there is no definitive list. We are actively looking to minimize our American products for now, but sometimes there is no viable alternative of adequate quality.

Our sincere hope is that this trade dispute will blow over before long and our two countries will be able to return to a mutually beneficial system of cooperative trade, perhaps if/when CUSMA is renegotiated. In the meantime, if you are avoiding American products at a detailed level, feel free to ask us about exactly which products are American-grown and we will be happy to advise you.