Toronto

French’s is scrambling to fill Loblaws shelves with its ketchup after the Canadian grocer reversed its decision to halt sales.

Elliott Penner, president of French’s, said the company has been “overwhelmed” by the support Canadians have shown for its ketchup, which is made with Ontario-grown tomatoes and Ontario-manufactured tomato paste.

“We’re really humbled by it,” Penner said Tuesday. “We just have never seen anything like this.”

The company’s biggest problem right now is meeting an immediate 400% increase in demand, but that should be resolved within 60 to 90 days, he said.

Folks on social media and provincial politicians have been urging Ontarians to buy French’s ketchup to help preserve jobs in Leamington.

Anecdotal evidence pointed to the growing success of the strategy, but Loblaws announced this week it was pulling the product off its shelves because of poor sales.

The decision sparked outrage and Loblaws reversed its decision within 24 hours.

“We’ve heard our Loblaws customers. We will restock French’s ketchup and hope that the enthusiasm we are seeing in the media and on social media translates into sales of the product,” Kevin Groh, vice-president of corporate affairs and communication, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “We will work with French’s to make sure we are in-stock as soon as possible.”

Liberal MPP Mike Colle, who sent a letter to Loblaws early Tuesday threatening to boycott the company, laughed when the Sun told him of the grocery giant’s change of heart just two hours later.

“MPPs really do make a difference — I can’t believe it,” Colle said. “It really struck home, this thing … what are they doing?”

The community of Leamington was devastated when ketchup-maker Heinz shut down its operations there in 2014, leaving hundreds of people without jobs.

French’s, better known for its mustards, began buying Leamington tomatoes for its own ketchup brand.

NDP MPP Taras Natyshak, who represents the riding of Essex, launched a petition to “Put Leamington Ketchup On The Table at Queen’s Park.”

Although it only means French’s is now prominently on display in the Queen’s Park cafeteria, Natyshak said he’s trying to focus attention on local food and provincial procurement.

“Why not expand that in the legislature, but also to the broader public sector,” he said. “I’m hearing that hospitals and universities, at least in Windsor, are already making the switch to French’s ketchup.”

aartuso@postmedia.com