Valbella Gourmet Foods, the fine food store, found itself in the middle of controversy after Canmore Pride received a homophobic and transphobic response to a request for donations Tuesday from Jeff von Rotz, who identified himself as the company’s owner.
The email he received in response stated, in part:
“Sorry to say, but you couldn’t pay me enough to sponsor anything to do with babysitting crisps.
“Please keep these sick people away from the children of this community.  You should be disgusted with yourself.
“I’m sure there’s some organization that woke up mentally ill enough to help you with your event, but it’s not Valbellas.”
The response to the email was for a number of local businesses and institutions to announce on social media that they were severing their ties with the company.
Blush Lane Organic Foods and Jasper Park Lodge were the first to announce that they would be severing their ties with Valbella Gourmet Foods.
We were saddened and disappointed to learn of the hateful statements made by Valbella, especially as we are committed to promoting an inclusive and safe environment.  EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: We will no longer work with or purchase from Valbella.

— Jasper Park Lodge (@FairmontJPL) July 27, 2022
Later on Tuesday, Chantal von Rotz apologized for the offensive email on Facebook and said that Jeff, her brother, no longer worked for the company. That didn’t stop others, including The Banff Center, Sunterra and Spuds Organic, from issuing statements that they would not be doing any more business with Valbella. After careful consideration, we have decided to sever all business relationships with Valbella and will be removing their products from our shelves immediately. Full statement here: — Sunterra Market (@SunterraMarket) July 27, 2022
The Town of Canmore and Banff also spoke out on social media, saying they support the LGBQT2S+ community. Dr Anne Marie Dorland said the company’s mistake was to respond to pressure rather than the actual remarks that sparked the controversy For an expert, the story is an example of how companies should not react to a PR cr “Once the initial incident has happened, it really brings to life that your brand is your actions,” said Dr. Anne Marie Dorland, who is asst. Professor of Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Social Innovation. “Once these transphobic and homophobic comments were sent, they did nothing. They waited until the pressure cooker started. “At what point, they responded – to the pressure, not to the fact that the remarks were issued in the first place.”