The Current - Why Canadian ice cream is a hit in Mexico

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

Scrap chocolate and vanilla: mango, coconut, and pistachio are the hot new Canadian ice cream flavours… in Mexico, that is. Ice cream is one of many Canadian products making its way to Mexican shelves right now. We talk with Pierre Morin, the owner of Quebec ice cream manufacturing company Top Glacier, about why Mexico is hungry for Canadian products right now, how Canadian businesses are thinking about Mexico and the U.S. as trading partners, and what you should do if you want to get your product into the Mexican market.

The firehose of news from America can feel like a lot these days. If you're trying to figure out what to make of it all, we got you. I'm Katie Simpson. And I'm Paul Hunter. We're correspondents here in Washington. Working just around the corner from where much of the action is taking place. Two blocks from the White House. And that's the name of our new podcast. For top-notch analysis of U.S. politics from a Canadian perspective,

find two blocks from the White House every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. including YouTube. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. It is no secret that our trade relationship with the United States has been a bit frosty of late. And with Canada and the United States and Mexico trying to hammer together a new trade deal, or at the very least look at a reset of that deal come summer, there are lots of Canadian companies thinking more about southern trade

and building bridges over America into Mexico. Pierre Morin is the co-owner and the man in charge of business development, a top glacier. It's a Montreal-based ice cream manufacturer. He's Montreal. Pierre, good morning. Good morning, Matt. Why did you want to sell ice cream in Mexico?

Because actually, it happened a bit before we started to have uncertainty with the U.S. We were called up by an organization. called EDC, Export Development Corporation. And they say, well, we have that company in Mexico, and they're looking to work with the Canadian company. So get in touch with them. So it started like that in 2022. And now we have products on their shelves, which is very exciting.

You know, in the ice cream business, in Canada, it's fun. It's less fun during winter because, you know, it's a bit cold. Yes. And over there, the weather is just fantastic. So we started with them last year. And we will continue for the future. And how's business? I mean, how much business are you doing down there now?

Well, listen, we, as a test, we ship two containers of various ice cream of some of our brands. Specialty. You know, Top Glacier is a merger of a group of small companies. Okay. We have Bill Bucquet, which is premium ice cream and sorbet, solo fruit, which is organic, Koolway, which is low fat, low sugar, and Kayser Family Farm, which is old. base. So you can see we've specialized our brands and that's what

we're actually promoting in Mexico. So we're testing right now. They've ordered 29 of these products and they're seeing. You know, having the best, the best one is mango. Are we surprised? Mango sorbet. So, and the second

one is pistachio. Very interesting. So anyway, so we have a very nice relation with them. It's easy. And it's funny because the trucks, they have to cross the U.S. to get there. You know, the head office of Suriano is in Monterey. And we have to cross the U.S.

Not always easy, but we made it. So that's why. So now we're looking at this situation right now. We're happy that we did, and we want to do that more and more. So we're looking into Panama. We're selling in Panama already. And we're looking at other opportunities in South America. and also in Asia and in Europe.

So we can thank our American friend to push us to go beyond our borders. It's easy to sell in the U.S. They're close to us. We've been doing it for many years. We have actual customers right now. And the thing that is bothering us the most is the uncertainty. Right now we're under Kuzma, so we're okay. but there's some uncertainty to what's going to happen eventually or next fall.

There are a lot of businesses in this country that are looking to reduce their dependence on the United States market because of that uncertainty. Do you think that Mexico, given your own experience, is Mexico a good place for them to start? It's a good place because they know, as a Canadian, Mexicans, they know Canada. I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of Canadians go and spend part of the winter there. We are known and we have a great reputation. So it's easy when you deal with a country that knows you already. And in some ways we're in the same team, okay? Both countries have a little issues with the U.S. right now.

So the idea is that, okay, let's work together and see how we can grow things. There's a Canadian trade mission that's heading to Mexico later on this month. The federal government has been working closely with Mexico as well to try to strengthen those ties. What do you hope to see come out of that mission? And what do you hope to see more broadly as our two countries try to figure out who we are and how we work together in what is a very different world? Yeah. Well, the thing is, our first reaction was, oh, you know, you would come back a few years ago of dealing with Mexico. It must be complicated. It's not complicated. Okay. So these trade missions, to go there and meet people, this is the best thing to do.

Because then you realize that our agenda are about the same. We can help each other. And how do we work closely so that it's not too complicated? Because in the U.S., it's not easy to deal with them. And it never was. There was always some issues, especially concerning milk products. which we cannot really sell in the U.S. Anyway, so I would encourage people,

if you have a chance to be part of a trade mission, you go, you meet the people, and it starts there. You feel well supported by the Canadian government and the work that you're doing? Absolutely, absolutely, 100%. And especially EDC. EDC plays a special role. Export and Naval in Canada.

Exactly. They support exporters, okay? And they might, I had a meeting with them yesterday afternoon for another dossier. So they're very, how do you call that, open, and they're pushing us, which is good. Sometimes we need to be pushed. Are you pushing, I'm going to let you go, but are you pushing any uniquely Canadian flavors of ice cream in Mexico? I think of Tiger Tail, we love the Tiger Tail, we love our maple syrup ice cream, you have moon mist, you have moose tracks. Those are things here, when it's warmer, that we love to eat as ice cream.

Are they popping in Mexico? Listen, they've tried maple syrup ice cream. It's new to them. And listen, the reaction is not bad, but it's not, we're not there yet. We're going to have to push it again. But they realize that in Canada, we have maple trees and we have maple syrup. And it's something we can do where very few countries can do. So let's try to push that.

You can be like a flavor ambassador for this country in Mexico. Yes, absolutely. Pierre, good luck. It's good to talk to you about this. Thank you very much. It was a pleasure. Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you.

And you. Pierre Mona is co-owner and is in charge of business development at Top Glacier. It's a Montreal-based ice cream manufacturer that is selling its products, as you heard, in Mexico. He was in Montreal. This has been the current podcast. You can hear our show Monday to Friday on CBC Radio 1 at 8.30 a.m. at all time zones. You can also listen online at cbc.ca.ca slash the current or on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.

My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.