Fifteen years ago, Gatineau-based Laiterie de L’Outaouais was born from a positive regional community mobilization movement. Following the shuttering of the erstwhile 60-year-old Laiterie Chateau in 2006, a four-year long joint effort by the public, Gatineau Chamber of Commerce and a number of local councils and businesses resulted in the formation of Laiterie de L’Outaouais, the youngest micro-dairy in Quebec, which from its inception pledged to provide fresh milk to local consumers in the Outaouais region and to protect and preserve the region’s dairy expertise.
“Our promise is to deliver milk from the farm to the store within 36 hours to ensure freshness and quality. This also helps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions with our milk travelling a very short distance to reach stores,” says Yannick Bouchard, President & CEO, Laiterie de l’Outaouais. Bouchard believes that being an autonomous local dairy is a source of pride to the region, helping to make it self-sufficient. Besides, control over its distribution, logistics and transportation also provides the dairy with a competitive advantage over its peers.
Following a successful foray into a few select stores in Ottawa in 2015, Laiterie de L’Outaouais took a strategic decision to officially launch in Ottawa in 2022, retailing its milk in chains like Costco, Walmart, Food Basics, Independent and No Frills. “Given the fact that Ottawa is so close to Gatineau, we decided to extend our presence there to expand our market share to the nearly one million Ottawans who can also benefit from the freshness and quality of local milk, which is available at their favourite supermarket. This was also a step towards breaking down interprovincial barriers between Quebec and Ontario,” explains Bouchard.
ABOVE: Maude Boucher, President of the Coopérative des Travailleurs Actionnaires de la Laiterie de l’Outaouais and Yannick Bouchard, President & CEO, Laiterie de l’Outaouais pose with products inside the dairy.
While currently the dairy controls just 1 percent of the Ottawa market, it is determined to increase its market share to 10 percent within the next five years by becoming Ottawa’s local dairy as well, strategically targeting more stores in areas with a high demand for milk.
Apart from pasteurized milk, lactose-free milk and cream, Laiterie de L’Outaouais’ best-selling product is its chocolate milk. It also sells two types of seasonal milk varieties — Autumn Spices in the fall and Eggnog in the winter. Last year, it also launched soft-serve vanilla and chocolate ice cream in partnership with creameries in Gatineau and Lois ‘N’ Frima’s Ice Cream in Stittsville, Ottawa.
“Once customers try our products, they are sure to become repeat customers because of the superior taste and high quality. All our products are locally manufactured and are competitively priced. No other brand can guarantee our level of freshness. I think all these factors are key to us becoming a household name in Ottawa,” believes Bouchard. Laiterie de L’Outaouais also counts Rogers Centre and the Fairmont Château Laurier amongst its clients.
Bouchard concedes that it takes a lot of perseverance and hard work for a small local dairy to get its products into big banner stores, build relationships based on trust and credibility over time and achieve profitability by ensuring growing customer demand. To do this, quality assurance is of utmost importance — for both the stores that stock their products and the customers who choose a local brand over established ones.
“We have very strict quality measures in place that meet the standards of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and we recently applied for the Safe Food Quality certification, a globally recognized, GFSI-benchmarked food safety and quality management system that validates whether a product complies with international regulatory and safety standards, from farm to retail. We also offer ‘white glove’ service in terms of overseeing inventory and maintenance of our products in all the stores our brand is present in, to ensure quality. We take back products within six days that are unsold to ensure customers get the freshest milk always,” explains Bouchard.
The dairy has also been integrating sustainability into its operations by limiting its distribution area to Outaouais-Ottawa and delivering its products using its own fleet of drivers. It has invested in recyclable packaging and is working to reduce milk wastage during production. It is also the first organization in the Outaouais region to invest in Isoblock technology. These actions are aimed at improving efficiency and profitability while reducing the environmental impact of its operations.
Last year, Laiterie de L’Outaouais embarked on a $17 million expansion project to increase production with advanced equipment to better serve the Ottawa-Outaouais market. It is also setting up a bigger manufacturing facility and developing new products. The federal government and the government of Quebec jointly provided approximately $14 million in funding towards the project, recognizing the dairy’s contribution to boosting the food ecosystem of the region.
ABOVE: Robert Bussière, Member of the Office of the National Assembly – Gatineau, Yannick Bouchard, President & CEO, Laiterie de l’Outaouais, Maude Marquis-Bissonnette, Mayor of Gatineau, Richard Nadeau, President of the Coopérative des Consommateurs de la Laiterie de l’Outaouais, Stéphane Lauzon, Member of Parliament – Argenteuil, La Petite Nation, Sophie Chatel, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Michael Andlauer, Ottawa Senators owner, Etienne Fredette, General Manager of the Gatineau Chamber of Commerce at the ground breaking ceremony for the $17 million expansion project at Laiterie de l’Outaouais.
“While we currently enjoy a 40 percent share of the Outaouais region and are present across 300 outlets in Ottawa and Outaouais, we need to increase our production volumes to compete with the leading dairy brands, as well as innovate and differentiate ourselves from competition by diversifying our portfolio and launching new products to ensure long-term viability,” remarks Bouchard.
Despite the fact that automation of processes will require less manual labour, the dairy is ensuring that none of its 40 employees will be laid off. In fact, the dairy aims to hire five more employees to ensure it has the right team in place to meet its expansion goals. Employees have also undergone training to ensure they are aligned with the latest production techniques that the dairy plans to incorporate as part of its expansion strategy.
“Additionally, we have contracted local builders and construction workers for the project as part of our commitment to stay local and reinvest in the region,” says Bouchard.
As part of the next phase of development, Bouchard says that the dairy is working on a new ‘Flavour Kitchen’ line, which will develop fruit-based products in partnership with local fruit growers in the Ottawa-Outaouais region. “This will give customers a chance to try new products while tasting regional flavours,” avers Bouchard, adding that such partnerships will also aid in helping other non-dairy businesses in the region, thus boosting the local economy. The official collaboration announcement will be made in April, while the new products are set to launch in June.
ABOVE: Construction as part of the dairy’s $17 million expansion project.
To ensure that there is no hindrance to the daily operations of the dairy, the expansion project is being completed in three phases. The first section with the new production line is expected to be completed by March; the second warehousing section should be ready by April; and the building housing ‘Flavour Kitchen’ and additional offices is expected to be completed by September.
Laiterie de L’outaouais has a unique governance model comprised of two cooperatives – the Cooperative of Workers Shareholders of Laiterie de l’Outaouais comprising all its employees; and the Outaouais Dairy Consumers’ Cooperative comprising 600 members, plus one private shareholder. All decisions are jointly taken by all stakeholders, so employees are equally invested in the dairy’s growth.
ABOVE (L-R): Maude Boucher, President of the Coopérative des Travailleurs Actionnaires de la Laiterie de l’Outaouais, Yannick Bouchard, President & CEO, Laiterie de l’Outaouais and Richard Nadeau, President of the Coopérative des Consommateurs de la Laiterie de l’Outaouais.
Last November, Laiterie de L’Outaouais and Fromagerie St-Albert Cooperative announced a partnership with Fromagerie Montebello as part of a restructuring plan to save it from bankruptcy. “This is part of our founding mission to protect, preserve and strengthen the region’s dairy ecosystem because Fromagerie Montebello is a veteran local cheesemaker. Besides, the partnership will also mean that we can develop expertise in the cheese business. We will also be distributing Fromagerie Montebello’s products at local stores in the region where we have a presence,” states Bouchard.
The dairy is also a strong believer in community involvement and actively participates in initiatives focused on food security, wellness, and sports. For example, last year Laiterie de L’outaouais donated 50,000 litres of milk to Moisson Outaouais, a local food bank which redistributed this milk to affiliated organizations across the region. The dairy also supports a host of other groups in Outaouais-Ottawa, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Outaouais, Gatineau Health Foundation, Ottawa Food Bank and University of Ottawa.
Last year, Laiterie de L’outaouais partnered with the Ottawa Senators to launch the Future Sens program, giving young hockey players a gameday experience at the Senators’ rink at Canadian Tire Centre, including one hour of pre-Sens game ice time and Laiterie de L’outaouais chocolate milk for each player. For the past two years, Laiterie de L’Outaouais has also sponsored the skating rink at the Ottawa Christmas market at Landsdowne Park – called Patinoire Laiterie de L’Outaouais, and sold its eggnog at the market.
Going forward, Laiterie de L’Outaouais aims to grow its market share to 50 percent of the Outaouais region by 2031. It will also look at partnering with more local companies to boost the region’s economic growth.
And what does the dairy want to be remembered for, say 15 years from now? “I think we will be remembered for being the first successful community mobilization project that spurred on other local agri-food sector mobilizations. People often consider the dairy as an institution for the region, and I hope we are able to solidify that perception as we continue to grow and expand. Ultimately, we hope people will be proud of our endeavours, because whatever we do is for the betterment of the Ottawa-Outaouais region,” concludes Bouchard.
To find stores retailing Laiterie de L’outaouais products in Ottawa, visit https://www.laiterieoutaouais.ca/en/
