In our latest Distributor Spotlight Series, we sat down with Molly Stopford from Canadawide Scientific to discuss their recent partnership with Organomation and what makes this Canadian distributor a perfect fit for bringing our nitrogen blowdown and gas generation solutions to laboratories across Canada.
A Legacy Built on Customer Service Excellence
Canadawide Scientific's story begins in the 1970s when a husband-and-wife team of former Fisher Scientific employees founded the company in Ottawa. What started as a small family-owned business has evolved into a nationwide distributor serving laboratories across Canada, while maintaining the personal touch that sets them apart from larger competitors.
"We really created a foundation of strong customer service to primarily food and beverage labs across Canada," explains Stopford, who joined the company in 2005 and became part of the management team when ACP Chemicals acquired the business in 2008. Under new ownership, Canadawide has maintained its family-business values while pursuing ambitious growth targets of 20% year-over-year.
What Seta Canadawide Apart
In an industry where many distributors compete primarily on price, Canadawide Scientific has carved out a different path. The company is ISO certified for customer service quality and maintains an impressive error rate of less than 2.5%.
"We have a mandate where small things have to be answered same day, and for more important strategies, rather than sending an email, we pick up the phone and bond with customers," Stopford emphasizes. "We really help to understand and problem solve as opposed to just trying to get the lowest possible price."
This customer-centric approach extends beyond simple transactions. Canadawide actively seeks feedback through surveys and live chat tools, using this input to continuously refine their processes and service delivery.
Filling a Critical Gap in Sample Preparation
The partnership between Organomation and Canadawide Scientific addresses a specific need in the Canadian market. With approximately 60% of their business serving food and beverage laboratories, Canadawide was encountering frequent requests for nitrogen blowdown units—a gap in their otherwise comprehensive portfolio.
"We sell a lot of evaporation equipment, high-end evaporators and concentrators," notes Stopford. "I think this is going to fill a really important gap that we had for nitrogen blowdown units. We had sold a few here and there, but often it was something that we were passing up or moving along to something else."
The timing couldn't be better, as many of Canadawide's customers in food testing, R&D labs, pesticide testing, and the fragrance and flavoring industries rely on gas chromatography and liquid chromatography analyses—applications where nitrogen blowdown units excel for sample preparation.
Serving Canada's Unique Market Needs
Operating from their Ottawa headquarters, Canadawide is uniquely positioned to serve both private industry and government clients. The company holds supplier arrangements with the Canadian federal government, enabling them to work with departments like Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, and Agriculture Canada.
"A lot of our customers are mandated to buy from Canadian distributors like us," Stopford explains. "They cannot buy direct from the states, or at least not without a lot of paperwork. Our supplier arrangement really helps us with that."
This regulatory advantage, combined with their comprehensive sales team covering all of Canada, positions Canadawide to effectively reach universities like McGill, Queen's, and University of Toronto, as well as municipal and federal research facilities.
A Comprehensive Product Portfolio
Beyond their new Organomation partnership, Canadawide represents an impressive array of top-tier manufacturers:
- Consumables: Corning, Thermo Scientific
- Evaporation Equipment: Genevac (exclusive in Canada), Heidolph (15-year partnership)
- Analytical Instruments: Sartorius, A&D, Mettler
"We like to offer breadth, but we always have a lead in every category," Stopford notes. "When you sell hundreds of thousands of SKUs like we do, it helps guide sales reps where to start, but if one of our customers is really set on a certain brand, we like to have it to offer to them."
Making Science Accessible Through Strategic Partnerships
One of Canadawide's greatest strengths lies in their ability to tackle large, complex projects that require multiple product categories and custom solutions. Their partnership with Johnson & Johnson on a worldwide drug trial exemplifies this capability—sourcing specialized portable cold storage units that ultimately led to exclusive North American distribution rights.
Similarly, their work with vaccine storage solutions demonstrates how their customer-centric approach creates opportunities that extend far beyond traditional laboratory supply relationships.
Looking Forward: Shared Values, Shared Success
The partnership between Organomation and Canadawide Scientific represents more than just a distribution agreement—it's an alignment of family-owned businesses that prioritize customer relationships over pure transaction volume.
"Aside from the fact that we're both family-owned businesses focused on customer service, I noticed that on a few opportunities we were working on, the Organomation staff were eager to help, offering assistance and not pushing a product, but really listening to the customer," Stopford observes.
As laboratories across Canada continue to face budget constraints, Organomation's nitrogen blowdown units offer a cost-effective alternative to expensive centrifugal evaporators and Speedvacs, often costing tens of thousands of dollars. This price accessibility, combined with Canadawide's exceptional service standards, creates a compelling value proposition for Canadian researchers.
The partnership also opens doors for exploring Organomation's nitrogen generator solutions, as most Canadian laboratories currently rely on nitrogen gas cylinders for their nitrogen needs—presenting another opportunity for innovation and cost savings.
Canadawide Scientific's commitment to customer service excellence and their deep understanding of the Canadian laboratory market make them an ideal partner for bringing Organomation's sample preparation solutions to researchers across Canada. Their proven track record of supporting complex projects and maintaining long-term manufacturer relationships positions this partnership for sustained success.