Maple Leaf Foods (MFI-T) is using Canadians’ growing interest in buying local to shine a spotlight on smaller food producers, launching an interactive campaign that connects consumers with independent bakeries, farms, cheese makers and other homegrown businesses.

Dubbed the Canwich, the campaign uses an interactive sandwich-themed concept to promote smaller Canadian food businesses.

“While established Canadian brands often have strong visibility, smaller local businesses don’t always have the same opportunity to reach consumers. We saw an opportunity to help shine a spotlight for them,” D’Arcy Finley, vice-president at Maple Leaf Foods told FoodNX in an email interview.

“So, we created the Canwich: by turning Canada’s love of sandwiches into a nation-wide show of local pride through an interactive shoppable campaign.”

Campaign runs in nine local markets

The campaign features clickable images of loaded sandwiches, with ingredients linked to local business where they be purchased by consumers. The campaign is running in nine Canadian markets: Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, London, Saskatoon and Moncton.

“More than 50 brands have joined the initiative so far, and we’re continuing to add more. They’ve been excited by the opportunity to have their businesses featured on a national platform alongside other Canadian brands,” Finley said.

Although the campaign launched only in early October, it has already generated a positive response, Finley said.

“The campaign has also gained strong organic traction since launch, accumulating more than 4.8 million total views across social platforms and generating meaningful engagement across all key markets.”

“We’ve seen tremendous enthusiasm among Canadians for supporting homegrown brands and local businesses, and we wanted to build on that momentum.”

Through images, the smaller producers, such as bakeries, farms, condiment producers, and cheese makers, can highlight their wares.

Maple Leaf Foods worked with its creative agency, Sid Lee, which developed the campaign, from the initial strategy and creative concept to its execution across social and digital platforms, including the interactive brand partner map, Finley said.

The campaign also includes billboards and other out-of-home advertising in the participating markets.

Building awareness for new businesses

For smaller food producers, gaining visibility is their biggest challenge, Finley said.

“Visibility is the single biggest challenge and it underpins almost everything else. Smaller manufacturers make exceptional products but without the marketing budgets that national brands have, it can be difficult to build awareness and reach new consumers.”

Distribution is another hurdle, making it difficult for smaller producers to reach consumers interested in buying local products, he said.

“Getting products onto the shelves of major retailers can require significant resources and established relationships. So, even when a consumer is actively looking to buy locally, the path to actually finding and purchasing from a small producer can be surprisingly difficult.”

The Canwich campaign features four sandwiches inspired by local food traditions in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Hamilton, Finley said.

“It stacked local brand names as core sandwich ingredients, each one customized to celebrate that city’s hidden gems. Every ingredient was clickable. Every brand was shoppable. The goal was simple: to turn local pride into real, tangible action.”

The campaign deploys the humble sandwich as a symbol of Canadian food producers, he explained.

“Their breads, cheeses, produce and condiments are the building blocks of the sandwiches featured in the creative, giving each one a distinct connection to its community. Their products and willingness to get involved make it possible to turn a national message of support into something people can explore and shop locally,” Finley said.

Finley said the sandwich is just the starting point for what could become a broader effort to promote Canadian food producers.

“The sandwich was the natural starting point given it’s iconic, it’s universal, and it gave us a playful way to stack local brands, but we could see leaning into other meals and eating occasions: salads, snacks, brunches, dinners, etc.,” he said.

“What we’d love to see is for that habit to stick and for people to keep checking the map; keep discovering local brands and keep choosing them even when the initial excitement around the campaign has passed.”