Tariffs a big blow for B.C. potato chip company making inroads in the U.S. market

One of Canada’s top potato chip brands is based in Surrey, B.C., but ships one-fifth of its product to the United States.

Naturally Homegrown Foods in Surrey, B.C., produces Hardbite — a potato chip brand that’s been surging in popularity.

“We’ve had a lot of fun scaling our business and growing to become the No. 3 kettle chip in Canada, behind Miss Vickie’s and and Kettle brand, which is out of the U.S.,” said company president Kirk Homenick.

Currently, 20 per cent of Hardbite chips are sold to U.S. customers. The company had plans to increase that to 30 per cent this year. Then the tariffs hit.

“A 25 per cent tariff would definitely be very punitive, especially when you’re competing against brands like Kettle, for example. I’ll just call out that one, because it’s a large multinational brand that would not incur those tariffs because they are producing in the U.S. market,” said Homenick.

The Hardbite team is currently in Anaheim pitching their chips at Natural Products Expo West, an important trade show for the industry. But the tariffs make it tougher to convince U.S. retailers to take on a Canadian-made product.

“In certain circumstances, we’re being asked for price concessions for sure, which puts margin compression on our business,” said Homenick. “Can we weather than in a short term? Yes. Long term, that’s not a sustainable business practice.”

One silver lining for made-in-B.C. products like Hardbite? Shoppers are now looking for items that are made in Canada.

At Stong’s Market in North Vancouver, Hardbite is prominently displayed with “Buy B.C.” signage.

“I always buy Hardbite because it’s Canadian,” said shopper Mary Ann Lewis. “I’m really concerned about our local people.”

“I don’t want to be anything from the United States,” said shopper Patti Grant. “We’ve been friends with them and now they’re being mean to us. They’re just bullying us, and it’s not fair.”

For Hardbite, a spike in Canadian sales could help offset the tariff hit.

“Certainly there is a consumer sentiment, and we believe that that’s going to be there,” said Homenick.

And the company is hopeful its long-standing American clients will find a way to keep buying.

“It’s amazing how you see the ability to collaborate and work together to find a solution,” said Homenick. “Newer business, it can certainly be more challenging.”

He’s hoping Canadian counter-tariffs won’t increase costs to his business — and acknowledged the longer this trade war goes on, the harder it will be for Hardbite.