Laurence Bruneau has a dream. For some months the young Trifluvienne has been imagining to found a company that will serve to finance a social project. Driven by this dream, you have launched a crowdfunding campaign on the La Ruche platform. She hopes to raise the $ 60,000 needed to start the business.
DéshydrAction is the name chosen for the future company. She would specialize in preparing dehydrated instant meals and take charge of the social project. Dehydrated foods to eat. This initiative was born from the organization Le Bon Citoyen, which tried to meet the needs of homeless people or people in food emergency. For several months, the social project has allowed people to buy meals that do not require any means of conservation.
“DéhydrAction is a Quebec business project that dehydrates food on an industrial scale to prepare healthy and nutritious instant meals,” explains Laurence. The meals would then be sold to the public on the company’s website and in grocery stores. “
The profits of DéshydrAction would ensure the sustainability of the social project, currently financed with public funds. “It all starts with the social project,” says Laurence. I have been working on this project since the beginning, for almost a year. I’m in the logistics, in the takings. It was from there that I could see everything that was happening and that I came up with the idea of launching the crowdfunding campaign. “
“I saw the potential, which could go beyond, adds the latter. I really have a passion for cooking and a passion for helping people. Helping others is important to me. Those who buy a dehydrated meal buy more than this. This person also allows someone else to feed themselves. This is what makes it different from all other food processing companies. The goal is and always will be to help people who are in dire need of food. ”
Dozens of people helped every week
There are dozens of people gravitating around the social project, from volunteers to leaders of community organizations. All recipes are created from recycled foods.
“We go to the food banks, in particular, to get what they couldn’t pass. We mainly collect vegetables that we come to prepare here, on our premises at the Sanctuary. We are a working platform for people who, for example, have an autism spectrum disorder. We cut the vegetables, put them on plates and send them to the dryer. After that, we assemble the recipes, ”Laurence lists.
Several recipes are available today, including a vegetarian burrito mix. Each week, sachets containing the dehydrated ingredients are sent to food banks and community organizations, which then distribute them as needed.
“It helps about sixty people a week here, but the goal with the DéshydrAction company is to meet the needs across Quebec, not just the region. “
Start on a solid foundation
The amount raised through the crowdfunding campaign Food and love it will be used to finance the entire pre-start-up of the company. This phase includes market research, production tests, laboratory studies to test the products and choose the appropriate packaging, the acquisition of all the information necessary for the business plan, coaching and mentoring, as well as the drafting of the documents necessary for get the essential start-up financing.
“These are all steps necessary to ensure the success and sustainability of the company,” says Laurence Bruneau. If we launch this campaign it is because we think it is really necessary for the project. “
It is difficult at this stage to say what form the company would take, if it had a showcase or even how many jobs it would create. “This is what we are campaigning for. It is to answer these questions and make sure that wherever it is, it is a suitable, efficient and ergonomic place,” explains Laurence.
There are still almost 50 days to go until the fundraising campaign Food and love on the hive.
Participate: https://laruchequebec.com/fr/projet/dla-bouffe-pis-dlamour– dehydration