Ottawa meat shop seeing rise in sales during U.S. trade war

Ottawa Valley Meats says it’s seeing a boost in business as more people are choosing local meat amidst the push to buy Canadian. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

An Ottawa-based meat shop is seeing an increase in business since the U.S tariff war began.

Ottawa Valley Meats is a proudly all-Canadian brand that prides itself on locally made products from the boxes, to the packaging, to the steak.

“Ever since this whole tariff thing happened, we’ve seen a massive uptick. We see a lot of people coming to us,” said Darius Campeau, president and owner of Ottawa Valley Meats.

Campeau says business has increased by 45 percent within the last three months and he expects it to increase by 10 percent more in the coming weeks.

 “People don’t like the fact that a lot of grocery stores or other producers will just put a Canadian flag on it. They want someone who can actually tell the story, from the cow to their plate,” Campeau said.

Campeau, who grew up in a farming community, has always wanted to support local.

“One of our famous sayings is, ‘here, our meat doesn’t need a passport to get to your plate,‘” he said.

The company has also gained a lot of popularity online.

“I think it’s important now, especially with everything that’s happening between us and the U.S., and I also like buying things and knowing that it benefits people from our community,” said Remy Gallego, a frequent customer

Customer Adrian Finn added, “Love to buy the ground beef as well as steaks. Good value for money. It’s easy to order kind of a la carte and they make it so simple,”

Campeau says business was good before the trade war, but he’s now hoping the future will be even brighter.

“We’ve always been about supporting local…we’re the champion of Canadian meats. So, our message boards are the same all the way through and people really see that,” said Campeau.