May the St-Méthode bakery be in hassle? Or instantly on the market? If the administration denies the rumor, it nonetheless confirms that it’s searching for new partnerships to consolidate its actions.
Final week, in response to questions from the Journal, the Chaudière-Appalaches-based firm, based mostly in Adstock, issued a press launch confirming that it was at present evaluating “the potential of working with numerous enterprise companions.”
The rationale: “New companions will enable it […] “We’ll start our growth tasks within the Ontario and United States markets,” mentioned its President Benoit Faucher in a press launch. These are markets inside our attain […] shoppers are already fascinated by’.
overcapacity
Throughout a subsequent phone interview, Mr. Faucher flatly refused to elaborate on his plans. Every thing will rely on which associate is discovered, he says.
He replied that there was no query of monetary difficulties or perhaps a partial sale of the corporate, describing the journal’s questions as “ridiculous”.
The corporate, based in 1947, will solely need to cope with “extra manufacturing capability,” he indicated, though it’s much more fascinated by capital injections than loans.
closure and chapter
The bread trade is already closely domestically centered – since Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo purchased Canada Bread in 2014 – and is at present dealing with myriad headwinds.
Amongst them: recurring provide difficulties, sharp will increase in grain, transport and labor costs, and tedious discussions with merchants about retail costs.
In March 2023, after increasing Adstock amenities by 35% (20,000 sq. ft) [au coût de 14M$]Boulangerie St-Méthode has introduced the closure of its plant in Magog, Estrie. Twenty staff misplaced their jobs.
As well as, final June, an impartial gross sales firm of Boulangerie Saint-Méthode in Bas-du-Fleuve filed for chapter. In accordance with the report by Raymond Chabot Grant Thorton, the trustee on the submitting, the corporate owed roughly $47,000 to the Quebec tax authorities.
State Help
One factor is for certain: over the previous 15 years, Boulangerie St-Méthode has obtained no less than $4 million in help from Investissement Québec and the Quebec authorities.
Final February, a month earlier than closing its Magog facility, the corporate obtained a $100,000 grant from the Financial Diversification Fund for the Appalachian MRC space.
In 2018, the corporate and Groupe BSM, of which St-Méthode is a component, obtained $3 million from the Quebec authorities beneath the Essor program.
Lastly, in 2008, Boulangerie St-Méthode obtained $961,000 in help from Quebec by Investissement Quebec and the then Division of Financial Growth, Innovation and Export Commerce.
The corporate now employs 300 folks and generated gross sales of 100 million US {dollars} in 2022.
-With the contribution of Sylvain Larocque and Nicolas Brasseur
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