Where Our Ingredients and Packaging Come From
Where Our Ingredients and Packaging Come From: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Canadian Sourcing
At Eclair Lips, we’re proud to be a Canadian company through and through. We’re based in Moncton, New Brunswick, and every single lip balm we make is handcrafted right here in Canada. But for us, being Canadian-made goes beyond just where we make our products—it’s also about how we source our ingredients and packaging, and the kind of businesses we choose to support along the way.
What Does “Canadian Ingredients” Actually Mean?
One of the questions we get asked a lot is whether we use Canadian ingredients. The short answer is: we try to source as many ingredients and packaging components as possible from Canadian suppliers. But when it comes to the actual ingredients themselves, there are a few limitations we have to work with. For example, ingredients like cocoa butter and coconut oil simply don’t grow in Canada. Our climate isn’t exactly tropical (unless snow counts!), so those materials have to come from countries where they naturally grow.
That said, we still make a point of working with Canadian-based suppliers whenever we can—even if the ingredient itself isn’t grown here. By purchasing through Canadian businesses, we’re still supporting our local economy and keeping our supply chain as Canadian as possible.
How We Choose Our Suppliers
When we need a new ingredient or packaging component, the first place we look is within Canada. Our goal is always to work with Canadian businesses that follow Canadian regulations and can offer us high-quality products. But it’s not just about whether they *have* what we need—it’s about whether they can provide it in the quality, quantity, and at a competitive price that makes sense for our business. And just as importantly, we need our suppliers to offer great service and be reliable partners. We’ve learned over the years that smooth operations depend on working with people we can count on.
As much as we’d love to keep all of our sourcing within Canada, the reality is that it’s not always possible—especially when reliability becomes an issue. One of our most trusted Canadian suppliers—someone we’ve worked with since day one—started running into major backorders, including on our lip balm tubes. For six months, we were told, “They’ll be in next month,” but they never came. Eventually, we had to act fast. We found a U.S. supplier whose tubes fit our equipment, placed an order, and had our shipment on the way within days.
Meanwhile, our original supplier did finally restock—but listed them at triple the price of the U.S. option. I even considered paying the higher cost just to keep our support in Canada, but after being told I'd get a quote on my bulk order “right away,” Two weeks later, I still haven’t heard back, despite following up. Their website won’t even let me order the quantity I need at their regular price. It’s frustrating, and it’s the kind of situation that can bring a small business to a standstill. We can’t make lip balm without lip balm tubes, so sometimes, we have no choice but to go where the supply—and service—are reliable.
There have also been times where we’ve chosen to walk away from a U.S. supplier that had exactly what we needed, even though we liked their product better than the Canadian alternatives. Last year, we ordered branded mailers from a U.S. company that seemed like a great fit—affordable, good quality, and manageable quantities. But the day the order arrived, the company publicly endorsed a political candidate whose views were deeply at odds with our values. I was horrified to think that some of the profit they made from our order helped them pay for a giant sign endorsing that candidate
Since then, we’ve been looking for a Canadian alternative. Custom options in small quantities have been hard to find, and many require minimum orders that are far beyond what we can reasonably use. One promising option was too expensive and couldn’t deliver for months. So we've decided we'll be going with simple, unbranded mailers from a Canadian supplier. They may not be flashy, but it's not a deal-breaker and it helps us keep one more thing in Canada. With tariffs now adding to U.S. costs, it’s the right call both ethically and financially.
We also run into challenges with ingredients. A lot of smaller Canadian suppliers are geared toward hobbyists, and just don’t carry the volume we need to keep our production running. On the flip side, the big industrial suppliers who work with huge corporations often have minimum order quantities that are way beyond what we can realistically use before the ingredient expires. So we’re often navigating between those two extremes to find the right fit.
If we can’t find a reliable Canadian supplier who meets all of our needs, our next step is to look to trusted companies in the United States. But that’s as far as we go—we don’t source from anywhere beyond Canada or the US. No matter where a supplier is located, we always make sure they provide proper documentation and meet our high standards for quality, safety, and traceability.
Why It Matters
The way we source our ingredients and packaging reflects who we are as a company—thoughtful, transparent, and committed to doing things the right way. We know that every choice we make has a ripple effect, which is why we take the time to find suppliers that align with our values and help us serve our customers well.
We know it’s not always obvious what goes into making a product, and we want you to know that we’re doing our best to be intentional with every decision—whether that’s choosing a Canadian supplier, vetting a new ingredient source, or walking away from a relationship that no longer supports our goals.
Thank you for supporting our small Canadian business. It means the world to us, and we’re so grateful to have you on this journey with us. 💖
