French's partners with company to bottle all ketchup in Canada

TORONTO -- French's Food Company says all the ketchup it sells in Canada will be bottled in this country by early next year.

All the tomatoes in French's ketchup sold in Canada already come from local farmers, but the company says some of it is bottled in Ohio.

French's says it has partnered with Select Food Products Ltd. in Toronto to build a new manufacturing facility that will be fully operational early next year.

The company says it has also expanded its partnership with Highbury Canco, which sources and packages the tomatoes and tomato paste used in French's Canadian ketchup at its Leamington, Ont., plant.

A spokeswoman for French's initially said the two would work together to develop and manufacture two new flavoured ketchups to be launched early next year, but later she said the company has not yet confirmed what the products will be.

French's ketchup soared in popularity earlier this year after a man's Facebook post lauded the U.S.-based company for its commitment to buy tomatoes from Canadian farmers while its competitor, Heinz, closed its Leamington plant, costing the community about 750 jobs.

French's says it will also look to source other materials, like packaging and labels, from Canadian manufacturers.