Anticipating the impending shortage, a Quebec entrepreneur overtook the multinationals by buying up whatever leftover mustard seeds in western Canada were to steal their spot on grocery store shelves.
“We invested heavily last year when we saw what was coming,” boasts Simon-Pierre Murdock, founder and co-owner of Saguenay-based Canada Sauce.
What came was a shortage of mustard seeds due to poor weather conditions in western Canada in 2021.
The crop in Canada, the world’s largest producer, was hit for 2021-2022 with a 28% drop.
“In around August 2021 we bought astronomical amounts of mustard seeds, vans and vans. We took everything that was left in the silos. We have invested all our working capital,” says the entrepreneur, who has been making mustard since 2019.
So much so that Canada Sauce’s “Baseball” mustard can be found in 1,800 stores today, and the company just signed a deal to supply Costco.
Hear Yves Daoust’s column on Richard Martineau’s mic every day on the podcast or live at 9:15am on the QUB app and qub.ca website:
Meanwhile, the global mustard market is suffering. Seeds are becoming scarce and their price has skyrocketed, reaching up to five times what it was in 2020.
With kind approval
The second largest producer in the world is Russia, which is subject to an embargo. Another important producer is Ukraine, whose fields have been devastated by Russian tanks.
Industry giants like Maille and Heinz fight for the procurement of raw materials. Everywhere, as in Europe, storage bottlenecks are observed.
“You will surely have noticed that certain brands of mustard have been absent from supermarket shelves for a few days,” Le Point magazine wrote yesterday.
Canada exports 70,000 tons of yellow mustard each year, mostly to the United States. This is where the so-called common mustard, the famous “baseball” mustard, is made.
In 2022, Canada Sauce will use 20 to 30 tons of mustard seeds to make its mustard.
“We’re a small player, but it pays to have good relationships with producers in the West,” he says.
This has also been determined by the Quebec Food Processing Council.
“Those who produce mustard here were warned of the impending bad harvest and were able to stock up. But the production has to be good this year, otherwise we’ll find ourselves in the same situation as Europe,” explains the organization’s executive director, Sylvie Cloutier.
So betting on local products can lead to nice surprises. And take chances.
“We have 10% of the mustard market in Quebec and with everything that’s happening, we think we can go up to 30-40% this year,” dreams Simon-Pierre Murdock.
With kind approval
Remember last year’s heat “dome”? This drought caused mustard seed production in Canada, the world’s largest producer, to fall by 28%. The second producer? Russia, affected by an embargo. In France, mustard production fell from 12,000 tons in 2016 to 4,000 tons in 2021, due to a cold snap but also to the ban on the use of certain insecticides. In short, it’s the perfect storm.