Posted at 8:45 p.m.
The production of the company Les Grenailles is no longer limited to a bag of granola, left in the car of one of the owners last week because of a surplus. On the side of Domaine Bergeville, there are several thousand bottles, including several vintages, which will never be opened.
In addition to the loss of income and the dangers to the survival of the companies concerned, the explosion that occurred in Sherbrooke at the Center de valorisation de l’aliment (CVA), which injured five people, left several entrepreneurs in shock.
According to The gallery, two of the five people injured in yesterday’s explosion have been transferred to institutes for severe burns. We no longer fear for their lives. At the time of publication, it was not possible to know the state of health of the three other victims.
Meanwhile, organizations specializing in economic development as well as colleagues in the agri-food industry are organizing to help them get back on track. A crowdfunding campaign is even being organized.
PHOTO MAXIME PICARD, LA TRIBUNE
“I got back to work at 7 a.m. I started to smell odors. I was preparing orders and, all of a sudden, I was propelled five, six meters further with a freezer on my legs. The ceiling no longer existed. »
It is in these words that Massimo Conti, owner of Naturellement Pasta, one of the 14 companies that permanently rented premises at the CVA, recounts the events that occurred on Wednesday morning. “I lost everything”, adds the one who got away with back pain. “Physically, it’s fine. Morally, I have not yet digested what happened. »
“All our stock was there,” says Alexandra Arès Bruneau, co-owner of Les Grenailles, whose tone says a lot about her sadness.
We had our premises where we bagged and stored our raw materials. We had the granola, ready to go on order.
Alexandra Ares Bruneau
She was not there during the explosion. On Wednesday mornings, Mme Arès Bruneau and his two partners are not in production.
Before Wednesday, Les Grenailles was doing well. “We were beginning to imagine being able to make a living from it. »
Eve Rainville and Marc Théberge, owners of Domaine Bergeville, which specializes in sparkling wine, were also not on the scene. However, it was their thousands of bottles that suffered. “We had a room there specifically for the aging of our wines, explains Ms.me Rainville. The whole 2020 vintage was there and a good part of the 2019 vintage as well as our red sparkling wine. »
“These are wines that we were supposed to pick up in a few weeks and that we were going to disgorge – eliminate the lees and deposits – in the spring and summer to sell them in part this year, she continues. It is an irreplaceable loss of income. That grape will never come back. The vineyard, which sells around 40,000 bottles a year, hasn’t lost all of its production, however.
Resume activities
Still in shock, the entrepreneurs interviewed were not ready to give up their business. “Our problem is space,” notes Eve Rainville.
“It does not exist, another CVA which is vacant”, laments Alexandra Arès Bruneau.
Sherbrooke Innopole, a paramunicipal economic development organization, is currently working to help the entrepreneurs affected. “We have set up a crisis unit to contact companies, inquire about people and ensure that they can resume their activities,” says the director general, Sylvain Durocher.
Finding refrigerated spaces to receive orders is one of the most pressing needs, he points out.
Jonathan Bélanger, president of Maturin, comme à la ferme, is currently busy finding partners to organize a crowdfunding campaign. The man at the head of the online grocery store selling exclusively products from Quebec farms and processors has two suppliers among the companies affected: La Gars du Lac – whose owner is seriously injured – and Naturellement Pasta.
“We are going to put everything in place so that these companies relaunch their activities, otherwise most of them will never be able to see the light of day again, worries Mr. Bélanger. These are family businesses that feed families here. You absolutely have to give them a hand. We have seen soaring food prices. If we lose 14 producers, that will put even more pressure on prices. »
With the collaboration of The gallery
Food Valorization Center (CVA)
- Foundation: November 2019
- 14 companies were permanent tenants
- Kitchen and warehouse spaces were also rented
- In all, about fifty companies revolved around the CVA
- Owner: Ashley Wallis
- Area: 25,000 sq.ft.2