Why Bick’s pickles are getting harder to find on Canadian shelves

A jar of Bick's pickles. (Colleen Schmidt/CTV News)

Some Canadian shoppers have noticed something missing from their local grocery store shelves - and experts say it’s a case study on how tariffs can reduce choices and raise prices.

Bick’s pickles, the iconic brand founded in Canada in 1951, is now owned by U.S.-based TreeHouse Foods. While the cucumbers and jar lids are sourced in Canada, the pickles are processed in the U.S. before being shipped back north.

Under current trade rules, that makes them subject to counter-tariffs Ottawa imposed in response to U.S. duties on Canadian goods.

“It’s a bit weird because the Bick’s product is actually more Canadian than some properly labelled Canadian pickles,” Sylvian Charlebois, professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University, told CTV’s Your Morning Tuesday.

Charlebois says the policy, aimed at pressuring Washington, ends up hurting domestic competition.

“We’re tariffing products that are actually grown in Canada. If you reduce supply, prices tend to go up.”

Some Canadian retailers will still carry Bick’s, he noted, but availability will be reduced. Alternatives like Mrs. White’s pickles, made in Canada, are still on store shelves.

Ian Lee, a business analyst at Carleton University, calls the situation a “lose-lose proposition” that punishes Canadian farmers, manufacturers and consumers.

“The jar gets hit by Canadian tariffs,” Lee told CTV News Channel in an interview Monday. “The profit margins in grocery retailing are already razor-thin, so some stories just take them off the shelf.”

According to CTV News Winnipeg, a Sobeys in the city let customers know that tariffs will impact what they can stock on their shelves.

In July, a sign placed in the Winnipeg store on a shelf that normally holds Bick’s Pickles read, “Bick’s Pickles are currently unavailable as an unfortunate impact of tariffs. We are pleased to offer a selection of alternatives for your shopping convenience.”

The tariffs were introduced as retaliation to U.S. duties introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump. But Lee says mimicking the U.S. approach does more harm than good.

“We’re poking Donald Trump in the eye but we’re hurting Canadians in the process,” Lee said.

Loblaw confirmed in an email to CTVNews.ca that Bick’s pickles remain on their store shelves.

CTVNews.ca has also reached out to TreeHouse Foods and Sobeys for comment.