Far from experiencing difficulties, Boulangerie St-Méthode says it is looking for new partners to finance its expansion projects in Ontario and the United States.
Last week, in response to questions from Journalthe Adstock company, near Thetford Mines, issued a press release in which it confirmed that it was studying the “possibility of joining forces with various business partners”.
The reason: “New partners will allow […] to begin our development projects on the Ontario and United States markets,” said its president, Benoit Faucher, in a press release. These are markets within our reach […] which consumers are already interested in’.
Excess capacities
During a brief telephone exchange, Mr. Faucher refused to specify his projects under construction. Everything will depend, he says, on the partner found.
And, word of the president, this approach would in no way be associated with financial difficulties, or a possible sale project, even partial, of the company.
The company, founded in 1947, would simply be struggling with “excess production capacity”, he suggested, while specifying that it was interested in the injection of capital much more than in loans.
Closure and bankruptcy
Already heavily concentrated domestically – since the purchase of Canada Bread by Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo in 2014 – the bread industry is currently facing countless headwinds.
Among them: recurring supply difficulties, sharp increases in grain, transportation and labor prices, and arduous discussions with distributors over retail pricing.
In March 2023, after increasing by 35% (20,000 sq.2) the size of its Adstock facilities [au coût de 14M$], Boulangerie St-Méthode has announced the closure of its plant in Magog, Estrie. Twenty employees lost their jobs.
Last June, moreover, an independent distribution company associated with Boulangerie Saint-Méthode, in Bas-du-Fleuve, declared bankruptcy. According to the report by Raymond Chabot Grant Thorton, trustee in the file, the company had a debt of some $47,000 from the Quebec tax authorities.
State aid
Over the past 15 years, Boulangerie St-Méthode has benefited from at least $4M in assistance from Investissement Québec and the Government of Québec.
Last February, a month before closing its Magog plant, the company received a $100,000 grant from the Economic Diversification Fund for the territory of the MRC des Appalaches.
In 2018, the company and Groupe BSM, which owns St-Méthode, received $3M under the Essor program from the Quebec government.
Finally, Boulangerie St-Méthode received $961,000 in aid from Quebec in 2008, through Investissement Quebec and the then Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade.
The company would hire 300 people today and would have earned revenues of $100M in 2022.
-With the contribution of Sylvain Larocque and Nicolas Brasseur
2023-08-22 23:10:14
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