Canada’s Food Island: Incorporating Islandness in Prince Edward Island's Food Brands

This article examines how islandness is embedded in the branding of food production businesses in Prince Edward Island (PEI), which has positioned itself as “Canada’s Food Island.” Drawing on qualitative content analysis of branding materials from food production companies affiliated with the PEI Food Island Partnership, the study identifies several recurring themes through which islandness is expressed: direct use of the words “Island,” “Prince Edward Island,” or “PEI” in brand names; depictions of PEI’s geographic outline (including landscapes and seascapes); coastal and nautical imagery; island- and/or water-associated color palettes; and terminology connected to island heritage, community, and sustainability. These strategies operate on both explicit and implicit levels, from overt textual and visual cues to more subtle symbolic and narrative markers. The findings highlight how islandness functions simultaneously as an existential reality—rooted in PEI’s environment, traditions, and lived experiences—and as a constructed resource, deliberately curated for branding and market objectives. The cohesion across food production businesses suggests the influence of islandness in evoking a shared visual and narrative lexicon/brand that amplifies PEI’s distinctiveness in domestic and global food markets. By situating PEI within comparative cases of island food branding, the study contributes to scholarship on gastronomic tourism and island studies, demonstrating how place-based identity is commodified and mobilized as a strategic economic asset.