Why do British products cost so much?

That's a very fair and reasonable question to which there is an equally fair and reasonable explanation. But first, let's understand the process by which British products are brought to Canada. It is important to understand that many British food manufacturers don't export their products to Canada. The population of the UK is close to 60 million people – double that of Canada. Britain is a full member of the European Community and can export its products to hundreds of millions of consumers in Europe without any tariffs or other trade barriers. Canada is a small market outside of Britain's principal trading area. Canada also imposes various trade barriers to Britain in the form of special product descriptions, and onerous labelling requirements.

In order to bring British products into Canada, it is necessary for Canadians to import those products. British products have a very limited market in Canada. They are carried by a network of small, independent retailers – like Blighty's Tuck Store – who buy their supplies from importers in relatively small quantities. The economic law of supply and demand applies here. Smaller volumes mean smaller discounts from the food manufacturers in Britain.

Large UK supermarket chains such as Sainsburys and Asda buy huge volumes and pay the lowest possible price. Canadian importers buy much smaller quantities and have to pay a markedly higher wholesale price.

Canadian importers have to request special packaging to comply with Canadian labelling regulations. Sometimes this is done with a simple stick-on label, but other manufacturers produce special export labelling. This adds further cost which is not borne by domestic UK retailers.

Keen competition among UK food retailers forces reliance on high sales volumes to offset low profit margins. The result for the poor Canadian importer is that, by the time he has paid a higher wholesale price due to low volume and special labelling and packaging, his costs in the UK rival the retail price in UK shops. But, the Canadian importer still has to get the products from Britain to Canada – at his own expense!

British products usually come by ship into the Port of Montreal where they are warehoused while awaiting inspection by Canada Customs and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Shipping, warehousing and inspections cost more money. Often, CFIA imposes special requirements for approval of British imports. This is to ensure that food products meet Canadian standards. Sometimes products are rejected and have to be destroyed – without compensation. Again more cost.

Finally, following approval by the authorities at the Port of Montreal, containers are trucked to Toronto where they are received into the Canadian wholesalers warehouse. Here, small, independent retailers come to purchase products to sell in their stores throughout Canada.

Retailers in Canada have to bear all the costs of the importers in the wholesale price that they pay. Often the cost borne by the retailer is significantly higher than the retail price paid by the consumer in the UK. Finally, retailers have to pay high fixed costs for running their stores and still eke out a meagre living.

The price that customers in Canada pay for British products is a reflection of all these costs. The fact that British products do still sell fairly well is a vindication of the old adage that price is what you pay; value is what you receive.

As a footnote; some British products on sale at Blighty's represent very good value for money. For example Needlers chocolate bars sell for less than some similar Canadian produced products. Sometimes, we receive special discounts and promotions that enable us to sell imported foods close to the UK domestic price.