A&W to serve Canadian-made French's ketchup and mustard

It’s a big day for French’s as their Tomato Ketchup and Classic Yellow Mustard is set to appear at a fast food restaurant near you.

On Tuesday, Canada’s second largest burger chain A&W announced that it will be the first national restaurant to serve the condiments in all of its 850 Canadian locations.

A&W said they partnered with French’s because of their Canadian ingredients. The ketchup, which has been all over the news recently, is made with locally-sourced tomatoes from Leamington, Ont., and is produced and packaged in the province.

According to the company, both the ketchup and mustard are made without preservatives or artificial flavours and colours, and contain 100 per cent Canadian tomatoes and 100 per cent Canadian mustard seeds.

A&W, which is Canadian owned and operating, said they are proud to use locally-sourced tomatoes from Leamington, and mustard seeds from Saskatchewan in all of its ketchup and mustard.

"At A&W, we're always looking to partner with Canadian suppliers and farmers who are producing natural ingredients," said Susan Senecal, President and chief operating officer of A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. "The tomato farmers in Leamington and mustard seed farmers in Saskatchewan work hard to produce the best quality ingredients for French's, and we are proud to add these locally-sourced products to the menu at all of our Canadian restaurants, including our restaurant in Leamington."

After more than six months of meeting with French's, A&W finally shared the news, saying the transition is already underway, with the condiments starting to be available in their restaurants in April.

"French's and A&W are committed to the same values, including great taste, real ingredients and added social responsibility," said Elliott Penner, president of The French's Food Company.

In 2013, A&W announced their Ingredients Guarantee, becoming the first and only national fast food restaurant to serve beef raised without hormones or steroids, chicken raised without antibiotics, and bacon from pork raised without antibiotics. A&W is also the only national restaurant brand to serve only Fair Trade coffee.