Chapman’s Cuts Ties With Nine U.S. Suppliers and Targets 70% Less American Ingredients as Canada-U.S. Rift Deepens

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A carton of ice cream has become an unlikely marker of how quickly Canada’s relationship with the United States is changing. Chapman’s Ice Cream, the family-run Ontario manufacturer, says it has severed ties with nine long-standing U.S. suppliers and is working toward cutting its use of American ingredients and components by 70% by the middle of 2027. The shift reaches far beyond patriotic packaging. Ingredients once sourced south of the border are being replaced with supplies from Canada, Australia, Chile and elsewhere, while production of certain components is being brought into Ontario. Chapman’s is also promising to hold consumer prices steady through March 2028. Together, those decisions show how tariffs and political friction are moving from diplomatic statements into everyday procurement choices, reshaping where familiar Canadian products are made and what goes into them.

Nine Supplier Relationships Are Already Gone

Chapman’s sourcing overhaul is no longer a tentative experiment. Reuters reported that the company has severed ties with nine long-standing U.S. suppliers in recent months, a step for a manufacturer whose products depend on a web of ingredients, packaging and specialty components. The company began looking for alternatives after the first tariff round in early 2025 and says the project is well advanced.

The scale matters because Chapman’s is not a niche producer. The Markdale, Ontario, company describes itself as Canada’s largest independent ice cream manufacturer, with more than 280 frozen treats in its lineup. Replacing suppliers at that size means qualifying ingredients, testing recipes, checking allergen and food-safety requirements and ensuring factories can receive consistent volumes. What looks like a simple decision to “buy Canadian” becomes a long operational exercise. Cutting nine established relationships signals that Chapman’s expects the trade rupture to last long enough to justify the disruption.

Almonds and Cherries Are Taking Much Longer Journeys

Some of the most visible changes are happening far from Canada. Ashley Chapman told Reuters that the company is sourcing almonds from Australia and cherries from Chile as it reduces dependence on American ingredients. That is a geographic pivot for products that previously benefited from the speed and familiarity of North American supply chains. It also shows that diversification does not always mean replacing an American supplier with a Canadian one.

Almonds illustrate why the switch is notable. USDA data show California produced about 2.715 billion pounds of utilized shelled almonds in 2025, underscoring the scale of the U.S. industry. Australia, however, also has a mature export sector, giving manufacturers another commercial source. For Chapman’s, the question is less about symbolism than reliability: a substitute must arrive at the right quality, price and volume. A scoop may taste unchanged even when the ingredient behind it has crossed a different ocean.

Sugar Cones and Wafers Are Being Brought Home

Chapman’s is creating Canadian capacity where it did not previously exist. CBC reported that the company partnered with Original Foods in Ontario to install a cone oven because there was no domestic producer of industrial sugar cones at scale. Chapman’s says the arrangement will give it a fully Canadian cone line. Production of wafers used in ice cream sandwiches is also moving into Canada.

That differs from importing from a new country. It brings part of the supply chain closer to the factory and gives a Canadian supplier new manufacturing capability. The impact is large: cones and wafers are essential components for entire product lines. Chapman’s sells hundreds of frozen products, including many novelty formats that rely on those inputs. By reshoring them, the company is turning a trade dispute into a small industrial investment, with equipment, know-how and future orders remaining here in Ontario instead of crossing the border.

Chapman’s Is Putting Its Own Margins Behind the Shift

The most consumer-facing promise may prove hardest to keep. Chapman’s says it will not increase prices through March 2028, even as it changes suppliers and absorbs costs associated with the trade dispute. Reuters reported that Ashley Chapman is prepared to accept pressure on profit margins rather than pass those costs to customers. The company says it has so far kept component costs from rising during the transition.

That stands out because supply-chain changes are rarely free. The Bank of Canada has warned that firms shifting toward new suppliers face higher costs, especially when alternative sources are farther away or less established. Freight, qualification work and smaller purchasing volumes add expense. For shoppers, the decision turns an abstract trade fight into something concrete: the price printed on a familiar carton. Holding that price steady makes Chapman’s strategy part commercial calculation, part statement about who should bear the cost of the dispute.

Canadian Dairy Remains the Anchor

One part of the recipe is not being reconsidered: dairy. Chapman’s says its products continue to use 100% Canadian milk and cream, part of the company’s identity predating the latest trade fight. Its product pages highlight Canadian dairy, while the company’s recent sourcing statement says that commitment will remain in place as other ingredients and components are replaced.

The distinction matters. The 70% reduction target applies to American ingredients and components that Chapman’s can realistically re-source; it does not mean every input will become Canadian. Some crops, flavourings and specialty materials are better suited to other climates or are produced at scale elsewhere. Canadian dairy acts as the domestic anchor while the rest of the supply chain becomes more international. The result is a model that is simultaneously more Canadian and more globally diversified: milk and cream stay local, while selected ingredients move away from a previously U.S.-heavy sourcing pattern.

New Tariffs Are Changing the Procurement Math

The timing of Chapman’s push is becoming more consequential. Canada says new counter-tariffs will take effect September 8, 2026, at rates of 15%, 25% and 50% on products covering $27.6 billion of U.S. imports. The federal list focuses on sectors including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics. Those measures follow Washington’s latest escalation and add uncertainty for companies buying American inputs.

Ottawa’s own rules acknowledge that replacement is not always straightforward. The tariff-remission framework lets businesses seek exceptional relief when an input cannot be sourced domestically or reasonably from a non-U.S. supplier. That provision captures the problem Chapman’s has been solving in real time: finding alternatives is possible for some products, but not automatically for all. The company began diversifying well before this latest round, yet the September measures strengthen the economic incentive to move faster and lock in non-U.S. options before costs rise further.

Canadian Consumers Are Pulling Away Too

Chapman’s is making the change amid a shift in Canadian consumer behaviour. Statistics Canada reported that Canadian residents made 5.5 million trips to the United States in the first quarter of 2026, down 10.6% from a year earlier. Spending on those U.S. visits fell 13.6% to $5.0 billion, while trips to overseas destinations rose 6.2%. Reuters has also documented Canadians avoiding U.S. products and services as tensions worsen.

Public opinion points similarly. An Abacus Data poll conducted in late August found 71% of Canadians supported Ottawa’s decision to suspend trade talks rather than accept the latest U.S. terms, even when respondents were reminded of possible economic costs. That does not suggest every shopper is checking the origin of every ingredient. It does mean Chapman’s strategy is landing in a market where “Canadian” has become more than a geographic label; for many consumers, it now carries broader political and economic meaning.

The Food Relationship Is Still Enormous

Even so, the size of the food relationship makes a clean break unrealistic. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada calculates that Canada-U.S. agriculture and agri-food trade reached US$74.3 billion in 2024. Ontario alone accounted for US$35.6 billion of two-way trade, reflecting how deeply farms, processors, retailers and manufacturers on both sides are connected. USDA data show Canada remained the second-largest market for U.S. agricultural exports in 2025, buying about US$28.68 billion.

Those numbers put nine terminated supplier relationships in perspective. For one company, nine contracts can be a major operational reset; across the continental food system, they are a tiny part of an enormous network. Ingredients cross the border because distance is short, standards are familiar and logistics have been optimized over decades. Chapman’s decision therefore does not prove the countries can easily disentangle. It shows how individual companies may start redesigning those networks when political risk becomes a recurring business cost.

Diversification, Not Total Decoupling, Is the Endgame

The lesson from Chapman’s target is that diversification is not the same as total decoupling. The company is aiming to reduce its use of U.S. ingredients and components by more than 70%, not eliminate them entirely. That leaves room for American suppliers where alternatives are impractical or economically unattractive. It also mirrors what the Bank of Canada is seeing economy-wide: firms are seeking new suppliers and markets, but adjustment is gradual and can be costly.

Trade data show the same direction. In 2025, the U.S. share of Canadian merchandise imports fell from 62.3% to 58.8%, while trade with non-U.S. countries expanded. The OECD has cautioned that resilience comes from diversified supply chains, not moving every activity home. Chapman’s strategy fits that logic. It is reshoring some components, keeping Canadian dairy, and sourcing other ingredients globally. The emerging model is less dependent on one country rather than isolated from the world.

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