Tausi Insider

A Tim Hortons branded chicken noodle soup base was recalled in Alberta and southwestern Ontario because it contained insects. In an emailed statement, Tim Hortons said Thursday the recall does not impact canned soups sold in grocery stores, only the soup base that was made and sold to a few isolated restaurants. It said there were no reported illnesses. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said the recalled product was available to purchase in those provinces up to and including Oct. 20. The agency said the soup base, which weighs 3.54 kilograms per unit, was sold to hotels, restaurants and institutions. Tim Hortons said the incident only impacted a few isolated Tim Hortons restaurants, but the company proactively asked all restaurant owners that received product from the supplier in question to dispose of their product. The company said the impacted batches were removed from restaurants, destroyed and replaced with new product from another supplier. Chicken noodle soup base in...

The economic update that was meant to shed light on how Canada will compete with new clean-spending measures in the United States and elsewhere has instead sowed confusion about one of the key elements of that strategy. Last spring, the federal government announced that it was exploring carbon contracts for differences (CCFDs). As presented then, the mechanism would guarantee companies making clean-technology investments of financial benefits from planned carbon-price increases, even if the price did not actually go up to $170 per tonne by 2030 as planned. Since August, when Washington committed US$370-billion to climate-related measures via the Inflation Reduction Act, Ottawa has faced increased pressure to follow through. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has suggested that Canada’s national carbon price means it doesn’t need to match subsidies in the U.S. But Canadian industries have complained that political uncertainty around the market-based mechanism – including whether it will be...

A vegan climate activist holds a toy chicken during a protest during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Nov. 18. MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY/Reuters Sylvain Charlebois is a professor of food distribution and policy and the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) just authorized the sale of cultivated chicken in the United States, giving a safety approval for human consumption to Upside Foods, a San Francisco-based startup. The company produces meat grown from animal cells, without killing a single animal. While the product cannot be commercially sold until the United States Department of Agriculture gives its own approval, that is likely a formality. The most significant hurdle was the FDA, which means the day we see lab-grown chicken on the market in the United States is within sight. In Canada, though, with our beloved production quota system that essentially amounts to a cartel, chicken farmers wi...

U.S. online retail giant Amazon AMZN-Q may be able to end two EU antitrust investigations by the end of the year after tweaking concessions to address concerns over its use of sellers’ data, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday. Settling the EU investigations means the company will avoid a fine of as much as 10% of its global turnover. Faced with charges of using its size, power and data to push its own products to gain an unfair advantage over rival merchants that also use its platform, Amazon in July offered to refrain from using sellers’ data for its own competing retail business and its private label products. The European Commission then sought feedback from rivals and customers and subsequently said the company needed to improve its concession. Amazon has increased the range of data which it cannot use, one of the people said. “It is possible an EU decision will come by the end of the year,” the person said. The EU competition enforcer declined to comment. Asked f...

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has expanded a recall for alpha brand plant-based products because they contain milk that is not listed on the label. The original recall for alpha brand Plant-Based Breakfast Sandwich – meatless sausage has now been expanded to include Plant-based Breakfast Sandwich – Meatless Chorizo, Plant-based Breakfast Burrito – Meatless Sausage Scramble and Plant-based Burrito – Mexicali. The sandwiches and Meatless Sausage Scramble burrito were sold in 156g packages and the Mexicali burrito was sold in 142g packages. All were sold across Canada. There have been no reports of any illnesses linked to the product. Customers are being told to either throw the products out or return it to where it was purchased. https://www.tausiinsider.com/alpha-brand-plant-based-breakfast-sandwiches-burritos-recalled-over-undeclared-milk/?feed_id=326622&_unique_id=6406fd9006824

The S&P/TSX 60′s top stocks, based on their weightings, are like a wish list of solid performers, including Canadian National Railway Co. Mark Blinch/Reuters Canadian banks, oil producers, railways and pipelines look like fine sectors to ride out the economic turmoil ahead, given their mix of reasonable valuations, strong cash generation and rising dividends. So, why not grab them all with a fund that tracks the S&P/TSX 60 Index? The benefits of passive investing – a strategy based on accepting the returns of the market, rather than trying to outperform it with active stock selection – are well known. But the appeal of Canada’s blue-chip index looks particularly strong in 2023, given the index’s exposure to companies that can survive an oncoming recession and reap the benefits of an economic recovery, all while paying out hefty dividends. The S&P/TSX 60′s top stocks, based on their weightings, are like a wish list of solid performers, including Royal Bank of Canada RY-T, ...

A pedestrian walks past a Hudson's Bay store window in Toronto on Jan. 13. Ahead of this year's Lunar New Year on Jan. 22, retail stores such as Hudson's Bay are setting up special window displays and curating products in stores for the holiday. David Pike/The Canadian Press When Madelyn Chung was growing up, just a handful of stores had Lunar New Year displays. It felt like a special homage to her Chinese culture. Now she looks at the proliferation of Lunar New Year retail sales and marketing campaigns across Canada with a more critical eye. “I equate it to rainbow washing or green washing,” she said, referring to businesses that use pride colours to appeal to LBGTQ shoppers or ecological claims to appear environmentally friendly without taking meaningful action. “Some stores just want to capitalize on the Lunar New Year celebrations because they know there are a lot of Chinese people who have money to spend on luxury items,” she said in an interview from Toronto. The Lu...

Shopify Inc. SHOP-T is raising prices for three of its service plans after they remained “largely unchanged” for 12 years. The Ottawa-based e-commerce technology company says its basic plan will now cost $51 per month, up from $38, while its mid-range Shopify plan will move from $99 per month to $132 and its advanced plan will increase from $389 each month to $517. Existing merchants that switch their plan from monthly to yearly terms will keep the current, lower monthly prices before the new rates take effect on April 23. In a blog post announcing the changes, vice-president of product and chief operating officer Kaz Nejatian says the resources needed to offer powerful, innovative and reliable tools have changed dramatically. He sees the company is increasing its prices so that it can maintain the same value to merchants. The changes come after Shopify laid off about 1,000 workers last year in the wake of its stock tumbling and customers moving back to pre-pandemic shopping habits. ...