One hour from Montreal there is a large vegetable farm in Saint-Nazaire d’Acton that is hoping to change the way Montrealers shop for produce.
Philippe Benoit, co-owner of the Bourrasque farm, has already been selling baskets full of his vegetables to customers in Montreal but he wanted to go bigger.
“For us, it is the perfect time, especially now with the price going up, I think there is good momentum,” Benoit said.
The idea was to open a grocery store owned by farmers, therefore cutting out the middleman.
“It is directly from us so there is nobody else who is taking the money,” Benoit added.
Émilie Viau-Drouin, the general director of Family Farms — a Quebec farmers’ co-op — says that without a middleman, the prices of the products will always be fair.
“The responsibility that we take is to make sure that the price here are just for the people who grew them,” Viau-Drouin said.
Selling product that is only in season also cuts out the importing fees chain stores must consider.
“We will not have bananas or things like that, so even in the winter it will be very interesting because we have a greenhouse, but we won’t have tomatoes in January,” Benoit said.
Now open on Masson Street in the Rosemont neighbourhood of Montreal, Benoit’s store Bio Locaux will sell mostly vegetables, but it will also offer meat and dairy.
“Each time you’ll come here month after month you will be able to see the fruit that is in season,” Viau-Drouin said.
The store isn’t trying to compete with the major chains.
“I’m trying to make a fair price for both sides,” Viau-Drouin said.
Back in Saint-Nazaire d’Acton, Benoit is hoping more farmers get involved.
“I manage the one in Montreal but of course I hope that a lot of others will open all around.”
There are plans to open another farmer-owned grocery store in Quebec City this holiday season.
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