Canadian paper cup and bowl maker sees growing local demand amid tariffs

A Canadian paper cup and bowl manufacturer is seeing growing demand from foodservice customers across the country as tariffs prompt coffee chains and fast-food restaurants to seek out more Canadian-made take-out packaging.

Eco Guardian Inc., which makes compostable and recyclable cups and bowls in Aurora, Ont., is one of a number of Canadian manufacturers poised to potentially expand its domestic business amid the escalating trade war between Canada and the U.S.

Company founder and CEO Anil Abrol says Eco Guardian was about to sign a deal with a U.S. manufacturer of paperboard when the first round of tariff threats hit last year, prompting the company to change course and source its raw material from Asia and Europe instead.

He says that shift means the company now makes its products in Canada without U.S.-origin inputs, shielding it from Canadian retaliatory tariffs and making its cups and bowls more attractive to the domestic foodservice industry.