A Canadian woman who desperately wanted decent butter says she might have gone "overboard" when she took $100 worth of the dairy product back to her country from the United States.
Clara, who is from Southern Ontario, told Newsweek that imported dairy is "far more superior in quality" to Canadian dairy.
She shared a photo on Reddit of her dairy goods, which included a stack of Kerrygold Irish butter, Smjör Icelandic butter and another variety from France.
The Canadian was forced to bring the goods from abroad due to import restrictions on butter in her country. Restrictions on the importation of dairy products to Canada are in place to "maintain a healthy economy, ensure an efficient industry, and provide consumers with quality products", the Canadian government says.
However, the Import for Re-export Program (IREP) facilitates the entry of milk/cream from the United States specifically to be re-exported out of the country.
For many Canadians, such as Clara, this means they miss out on some popular dairy products from around the world. In her Reddit post, she explains that she decided to bring $100 worth of butter back from Amherst, Massachusetts, to bake croissants.
She told Newsweek: "I feel like a lot of Canadians bring dairy across the border. As long as you don't intend to sell, I don't think it's an issue.
"It's a shame that Canada is not willing to be more diverse with the dairy industry."
Clara's post received quite the reaction with 25,000 upvotes and over a thousand comments from other Reddit users.
"This is the most Canadian thing I've ever read," u/Low_Yesterday_2677 joked.
"Good haul! Just this morning I was wondering if I could find a way to go down and buy some of that butter," u/Smidgeon-1983 shared, to which Clara replied: "Do it! It's so worth it. I might try Costco next time to get it in bulk. Not sure where you live in Canada but from Toronto it took me almost two hours, which is amazing considering the traffic you can get caught in in the city."
"Lived in Canada for 23 years and I'm just finding out that this is why I can't find good butter at the grocery store," said u/Amorcito222.
Meanwhile, u/one-eye-deer shared: "I can understand the hustle. Kerrygold is gold."
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