Primo company patriotically wades into Canadian ketchup war

Canadian companyPrimoFoods is muscling its way into the country's ketchup wrestling ring.

Primo, commonly known for its pasta sauces,recently rolled out its version ofthe sweet, red condiment that has captured patriotic heartsacross thecountry.

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French's may have won over consumers inthe recent ketchup war with fellow condiment giant Heinz, but this new up-and-coming opponent has a few patriotic licks of its own.

Primo proudly boasts its ketchup is made with Canadian labour, ingredients and packaging.

"Every bottle ofPrimoTomato Ketchup is packed right here in Canada using only 100 per cent Canadian farm grown tomatoes," according to a Primo statement.

Sun-Brite is the parent company of Primo and Unico brands. Since 1973, it's been located in Ruthven, Ont., just outside Leamington, Ont., about 45 minutes southeast of Windsor.

The tomatoes are grown locally, processed and bottled at the Ruthven plant and labelled with Canadian-made labels. It's 100-per-cent Canadian, Sun-Brite founder and president Henry Iacobelli said.

Heinz moved out, others moved in

"For many years, we thought about getting into the ketchup market. Over the last couple years, as Heinz moved out of Leamington, we thought it was a good opportunity to get into the market," he told CBC News.

In June 2014, Heinz ended production in Leamington, where it had beenmaking ketchup since 1909. Nearly 1,000 workers, including seasonal employees and tomato farmers, were affected by the plant's closure.

Highbury Canco moved in about a year later and began processing some products for Heinz but not ketchup.

French's, meanwhile, gets its tomato paste from Highbury Canco in Leamington and ships it to Toronto and the U.S., where it is used in ketchup.

A facility in Toronto manufactures the food services ketchup. What ends up for sale on grocery store shelves is made at a plant in Ohio. French's has promised to start bottling ketchup in Canada, but hasn't announced a location.

'She perfected the ketchup'

Iacobelli said Sun-Brite and Primo had been working on a ketchup formula for years, before French's made its big splash in the condiment market. His daughter, Sandra, who is head of product development at Sun-Brite, spent years cooking up the recipe.

"She perfected the ketchup," Iacobelli said. "We are just working on processing now."

The 140,000 square foot processing plant can produce an estimated 70,000 cases of tomato products a day, according to the Sun-Brite website. Most of those tomatoes come from communities in the region, such as Harrow, Chatham, Leamington and Wallaceburg.

Iacobelli admits, "we didn't make a big splash" in the ketchup market. He's excited to be there, nonetheless.

"I personally am very excited to see the Canadian reaction in that manner, and to see Canadians supporting local Canadian companies," Iacobelli said of the recent social media frenzy the ketchup war sparked. "The world is getting smaller and smaller and Canadian companies are fading away.

"The consumers are Canadian workers working for someone. If we don't support each other, nobody else will."