Iconic Toronto Jamaican patty shop warns customers after impostors go viral
Toronto's premier Jamaican patty provider, Randy's Patties, is warning customers to look closely before picking up what might just be an impostor.
People in Toronto have strong feelings about their preferred Jamaican patties (Kingston 12 for me), but it seems like everyone can agree, to some extent, that Randy's Patties lands somewhere near the top of the list.
A fixture of Oakwood Village for nearly 50 years, Randy's has ascended to a level of stardom that few other patty purveyors come close to touching. It makes perfect sense that imitators would try to get their own piece of the pie.
And, judging by Randy's response to a recent social media post, that's exactly what's happening.
In an Instagram post shared by user @johnfromdayouknow, the poster expresses serious discontent with the contents of a box of frozen patties, seemingly from Randy's, purchased from the Real Canadian Superstore.
In the video, which boasts the caption "count your days super store & Randy's," the user states that the patties included in the box evidently don't come from Randy's, but from another — apparently, judging by his rage, lesser — patty company.
And, as it turns out, his impostor patty radar was dead on; Randy's flew to the comment section of the post to clear up all the confusion.
"THESE ARE NOT OUR PATTIES. LOOK CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU PURCHASE! WE DO NOT SELL OUR PATTIES IN SUPERMARKETS," the official Randy's Patties Instagram account comments on the video.
They go on to allege that the box found in the supermarket frozen aisle, which does bear the name "Randy's," is the result of "another entity [...] infringing on our registered trademark."
Later, Randy's took to its own Instagram to make their point abundantly clear: "WE DO NOT SELL OUR PATTIES AT NO FRILLS or LOBLAWS."
"If your Jamaican Patties are NOT in THIS box, it's NOT a Randy's Patty," they conclude.
So there you have it. If you want to fill your patty craving with Randy's, you'll have to hop on Line 5 to do so — you won't be finding these spicy beef treats in the aisles of your local supermarket.
Fareen Karim
