Chapman’s Ice Cream has announced a major effort to reduce its reliance on American ingredients and components without passing the expected additional costs directly to Canadian consumers.
The family-owned company, based in Markdale, Ontario, says it is on track to replace more than 70 per cent of the ingredients and components it currently obtains from the United States by the middle of 2027. Chapman’s has also committed to holding its own prices steady until at least March 2028.
It is an announcement that reaches far beyond ice cream. Chapman’s decision demonstrates how Canadian manufacturers can respond to trade uncertainty by investing in domestic suppliers, creating new manufacturing capacity and building more resilient Canadian supply chains.
What did Chapman’s Ice Cream announce?
Chapman’s is working to replace American-sourced ingredients, packaging and other production components with alternatives made in Canada or supplied by countries outside the United States.
According to recent reports, the company expects to convert more than 70 per cent of its American-sourced inputs by mid-2027. Some products that were previously unavailable from Canadian suppliers may soon be manufactured domestically because of Chapman’s efforts.
One of the most interesting examples involves the sugar cones used for frozen treats.
Canada reportedly does not currently have a large-scale producer capable of supplying the volume of industrial sugar cones Chapman’s requires. To change that, Chapman’s is working with Original Foods, an Ontario food manufacturer located near Hamilton, to establish domestic cone production.
The partnership will involve bringing in specialized cone-making equipment. Chapman’s says the resulting production line will allow it to use sugar cones made entirely in Canada.
The company is also moving production of the wafers used in its ice cream sandwiches to Canada. Ingredients that cannot realistically be grown or produced here will increasingly come from non-American suppliers, including almonds from Australia and cherries from Chile.
The goal is therefore not to claim that every ingredient will originate in Canada. Canada’s climate and manufacturing capacity make that impossible for certain products. Instead, Chapman’s is prioritizing Canadian suppliers wherever practical and diversifying its remaining imports.
Chapman’s promises no company price increase until 2028
Changing suppliers, purchasing new equipment and establishing new production lines can be expensive. In some cases, Canadian or overseas alternatives may cost more than the ingredients previously purchased from American companies.
Despite those expenses, Chapman’s says it will not increase its prices between now and March 2028.
That commitment is especially significant at a time when Canadian households are already struggling with elevated grocery costs. It also builds on the company’s earlier response to tariffs, when Chapman’s said it would absorb additional expenses instead of immediately transferring them to consumers.
There is, however, an important distinction for shoppers to understand: Chapman’s can freeze the prices it charges retailers, but it cannot necessarily control the final price displayed in every grocery store. Individual retailers determine their own shelf prices, promotions and profit margins.
A store could therefore increase the retail price of a Chapman’s product even if the manufacturer has not raised its price. Chapman’s commitment means the company itself does not intend to initiate an increase before March 2028.
Why Chapman’s is moving away from American suppliers
The renewed Canada–U.S. trade dispute has exposed the risk of relying too heavily on a single country for ingredients, equipment and manufactured components.
Tariffs can suddenly make an imported ingredient more expensive. Border delays, political disagreements and retaliatory measures can also disrupt production even when a company has done nothing wrong.
Chapman’s began reassessing its American supply relationships following earlier rounds of U.S. tariffs. The company has indicated that the trade dispute encouraged Canadian manufacturers and suppliers to consider making products they had previously declined to produce domestically.
This is an important part of the announcement. Chapman’s is not simply switching from one foreign supplier to another. In several cases, it is helping establish new Canadian production capacity.
The agreement for Canadian-made cones reportedly includes a five-year commitment. That provides the supplier with greater certainty when investing in specialized machinery, hiring workers and developing the production process.
Why this matters for Canadian manufacturing
Canadian consumers are frequently encouraged to buy Canadian, but finding a maple leaf on the front of a package does not reveal the entire supply chain.
A product can be manufactured in Canada while still containing imported ingredients, packaging and components. This is not necessarily the manufacturer’s fault. Canadian companies can only purchase domestically produced inputs if another business has the equipment, workforce and capacity to make them at the required scale.
Chapman’s approach addresses that underlying problem.
Rather than simply changing the label or launching a patriotic advertising campaign, the company is working with suppliers to make more of its supply chain Canadian. That can produce several economic benefits:
- More money remains within the Canadian economy.
- Canadian food-processing companies gain long-term customers.
- New equipment and production lines can create jobs.
- Domestic manufacturing knowledge and capacity are strengthened.
- Chapman’s becomes less vulnerable to future tariffs and border disruptions.
- Other Canadian companies may eventually purchase from the same new suppliers.
Not every ingredient can or should be produced domestically at any cost. Nevertheless, strategically important manufacturing capacity can give Canadian businesses more options when international relationships become unpredictable.
A Canadian company expanding at home
Chapman’s is Canada’s largest independent ice cream manufacturer. It was founded by David and Penny Chapman in 1973 and remains family-owned and operated.
All Chapman’s products are manufactured in Markdale using Canadian milk and cream. The company employed more than 800 full-time workers when it announced a major expansion in 2025.
That expansion represents an investment of more than $200 million. It includes a new 175,000-square-foot production facility, with three production lines planned initially and another three expected in later years. The project is forecast to create approximately 200 additional jobs. The Ontario government is supporting the expansion through a loan of up to $27 million from the Invest Ontario Fund.
The new sourcing announcement complements that investment. Chapman’s is not only expanding production in Ontario; it is attempting to bring a larger portion of the supporting supply chain into Canada as well.
Building Canadian independence one supplier at a time
Canada cannot become economically independent simply by avoiding every product associated with the United States. The two countries have deeply integrated economies, and much of that trade benefits workers and consumers on both sides of the border.
However, there is a difference between maintaining a healthy trading relationship and becoming dangerously dependent on one market.
Chapman’s strategy offers a practical middle ground. The company is sourcing Canadian ingredients and components whenever possible while finding dependable alternatives elsewhere when Canada cannot supply what it needs.
That is genuine trade diversification.
It also shows that building Canadian economic resilience does not always begin with a massive government program. Sometimes it begins when one manufacturer gives another Canadian company the long-term commitment it needs to purchase a machine, establish a production line and start making something that was previously imported.
Supporting Canadian businesses requires informed choices
Chapman’s announcement gives Canadians another reason to consider where their grocery money goes.
Buying a Canadian product does more than support the name printed on the package. When that manufacturer uses Canadian dairy, employs Canadian workers, invests in an Ontario community and develops Canadian suppliers, the purchase can support an entire network of businesses and families.
Consumers should still compare prices, ingredients, dietary requirements and product quality. Supporting Canadian companies should be an informed decision rather than an obligation.
However, when a Canadian-owned company absorbs additional costs, makes long-term investments at home and works to reduce the country’s dependence on an unpredictable trading partner, Canadians may reasonably decide that it deserves their support.
Chapman’s latest announcement is ultimately about more than cones, wafers and ice cream. It is an example of what can happen when a Canadian company treats supply-chain independence as a long-term investment rather than a temporary marketing slogan.
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