Catering | La Cage stirs the cage

A new group of restaurateurs is born under the name of Grandio

Nathaelle Morissette
The Press

Sportscene – which manages La Cage – Brasserie Sportive – becomes Grandio. This brand new group of restaurateurs with more than a dozen chains and fifty branches will allow Cochon dingue, a Quebec institution, to establish itself in the Montreal landscape. The objective of this group: to create a “new flagship of Quebec”.

Groupe Grandio, which will be officially created at the end of July, will notably bring together La Cage – Brasserie sportive, Cochon dingue, Chez Lionel, Crémy Pâtisserie and Moishes. Each brand will continue to operate independently.

This organizational structure will be essentially led by Jean Bédard, President and CEO of Groupe Grandio – formerly Sportscene (La Cage – Brasserie sportive, Moishes) –, Pierre Moreau, CEO of Restos Plaisirs (Cochon dingue, Lapin sauté, Café du monde ), and Champlain Financial Corporation. She took control of Sportscene with Jean Bédard when the company was privatized at the start of the year.

Created in response to the pandemic, which has hit restaurant owners hard, Grandio will allow local businesses to continue to prosper in Quebec, according to Pierre Moreau. “The danger when we experience crises like this is that the Americans come and pick up our businesses. It pleased me to tell myself that I would be with a gang that wants to keep our businesses in Quebec, ”he said during a telephone interview.

Grandio will also allow several chains to come out of their fold. “We made this deal to bring Cochon dingue to Montreal, that’s for sure,” says Jean Bédard. Restos Plaisirs had intended for a while to establish itself on the South Shore, in the northern crown and possibly in the metropolis, but the pandemic came to screw up the plans of the company whose head office is located in Quebec.

With Groupe Grandio, the project will finally be able to materialize, which clearly illustrates the strength and the advantage of being part of such a group, according to Jean Bédard. “We have the financial strength of Groupe Champlain behind us. »

Is there a risk in trying to settle further west, where the market differs from that of Quebec? “I still have a little experience in catering, I’ve been dabbling in this for 30 years,” he recalls, with a smile in his voice. We will now have a great team that knows the markets well. I am really not concerned about our ability to establish ourselves in the greater Montreal area,” adds Mr. Moreau, admitting all the same in the process that “small adjustments” could be necessary.

The Moishes restaurant, an institution on Saint-Laurent Boulevard for 80 years and bought by Sportscene in 2018, which will reopen it in the fall in the Caisse de dépôt et placement building, could for its part extend its tentacles to Ottawa . “We’re going to create a great platform of Quebec brands that we’re going to try to develop in Quebec or perhaps outside for certain brands that have legs,” explains Jean Bédard.

Pandemic and consolidation

By his own admission, Jean Bédard believes that Groupe Grandio would not have seen the light of day if there had not been a health crisis linked to COVID-19. “The pandemic has reshuffled the cards. »

For two years, Jean Bédard and Pierre Moreau, who have known each other for years, have multiplied the discussions. They were also in contact with other restaurateurs. “We got very close. We shared some of the same fears. We spoke once a week. We got to know each other better during that time. »

“It’s sad because there are some who have beautiful brands, beautiful restaurants, and they give up because they are exhausted,” he says. According to him, the formation of a group makes it possible to have stronger kidneys and to pass through bad weather.

Moreover, if he admits that there is currently a strong trend towards consolidation, particularly in catering, the boss of Groupe Grandio assures that the creation of the new entity is not a way of counterbalancing Foodtastic. or even MTY. “I’m not a guy who will do things against others,” he says. It’s not an answer to nothing. Obviously, there is a lot of consolidation going on right now. »

As for Grandio, other brands could soon join the group, assures Jean Bédard. “It’s not over, we’re going to want to have other partners who share the same values. It’s a beginning. »