Elliott Penner offers one good reason why prairie shoppers should choose French’s Mustard over other brands: there is an excellent chance the mustard seed came from the region.
“We buy 95 percent of our seed from Canada, and the majority of that is from Saskatchewan,” said the president of French’s Food Products during a recent stop in Regina.
Saskatchewan supplies about 60 percent of the raw product. Other seed comes from Alberta, the United States and France.
The company, introduced at the 1904 World’s Fair, produces 134 million bottles of the well-known brand of mustard each year.
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Penner, a Canadian who spent part of his early career in Regina, said the New Jersey-based company pays close attention to what is happening on the Prairies during the growing season.
“Our staff come out three or four times a year to make sure we understand what the crop is going to be,” he said. “We purchase a year’s requirements and we need to know if we’ll need a buffer.”
The wet snow falling on the day Penner was in Regina indicated to him that next year’s crop might already be off to a better start than the last couple.
Quality has been an issue, and French’s wants a No. 1 grade to meet its standard.
The company manufactures only for itself. It does not make mustard for generic or store brands.
While Penner said French’s standards ensure a quality product, he said the company knows how easy it is for customers to switch to another, cheaper brand so French’s is constantly trying to differentiate itself.
It introduced plastic squeeze bottles in 1991 and virtually every competitor followed suit.
“They had become us,” Penner said. “People thought they were buying French’s but they weren’t.”
French’s then changed its packaging in 2002 to make the squeeze bottle thinner and easier to hold.
“It was 40 percent more efficient on the shelf.”
Shippers could fit 16 units into a box instead of 12. And the new design saved the company $2 million a year, which was all put into advertising.
The company’s GourMayo now holds between 65 and 70 percent of the flavoured mayonnaise business.
“It’s hard to believe,” Penner said.
Mayonnaise flavors such as wasabi and sun-dried tomato follow the trends established in restaurants.
