It was a holiday, September 9, in Rivière-du-Loup. More than 4,000 people from 28 countries were on hand to celebrate the 100 years of existence of Premier Tech, an agricultural technology giant from Bas-Saint-Laurent which had at least one other good reason to celebrate.
The company was first founded in New York in 1923 by two German immigrants, before moving to Quebec ten years later. Quebecers became its owners in 1978, then listed it on the stock exchange, then privatized it again in 2007. Then, last year, the company crossed the threshold of one billion dollars in annual revenue, a symbolic target that its president and CEO, Jean Bélanger, had set a little earlier.
His challenge now is to predict the next 100 years. What the changing climate, rampant urbanization and overexploitation of land all over the planet makes more perilous than ever, noted in an interview with Duty Jean Bélanger.
The list of challenges facing the agricultural sector is long. He points out in particular that the world’s population continues to grow, and that its diet is also evolving and becoming more demanding for nature and the food industry. “In developed countries, we already eat a lot of meat. In China, India and Africa, the rise of the middle classes is also pushing people to abandon grains in favor of proteins,” he says.
“It puts a lot of pressure on our soils. Cities and sprawl also threaten the availability of arable land. Synthetic products have their limits — the earth cannot be more stimulated to be ever more productive. We will have to bring life back into the soil. This is not a small challenge, and it is not going to be solved all at once. There are still several solutions that will need to be invented. »
Between tradition and revolution
Premier Tech was originally a producer of sphagnum peat moss, which diversified into fertilizers and fertilizers, then into other agricultural products and services. The idea of launching into biotechnologies — as they were called then — germinated in the early 1980s. At the time, Premier Tech began studying the role of bacteria in agriculture, which led to to the creation of a catalog of specialized microorganisms which includes around a hundred variants that can serve both the agricultural and horticultural sectors.
Wishing to invest in the emerging market for alternative proteins, Premier Tech later acquired a Bécancour company called Verantia, specializing in the cultivation of alfalfa. Alfalfa also contains saponin, a well-known bioinsecticide that until now no one had managed to extract in large quantities.
Premier Tech has succeeded in doing this, has just patented the process, and has a factory in place to produce the saponin with a view to commercializing it on a large scale from 2025.
“Biotechnologies are an important strategy to highlight our expertise,” says Jean Bélanger. We see variations on the side of human and animal health. It is believed that there are still many new technologies to be developed to help the food sector. »
Premier Tech also has one of the rare research and development centers located outside major urban centers in Rivière-du-Loup. The company employs 225 people, “people who have doctorates and master’s degrees, who are very competent in several different sectors and who make us a technological company present in several industrial niches,” says its big boss.
Reconciling standard of living and sustainability
Quebec, it is often repeated, is one of those regions in the world where the food sector is among the most energy-intensive. Processed foods, the omnipresence of beef products and the significant production of waste throughout the food chain are issues that the province will one day have to tackle if it hopes to maintain its current standard of living, believes the president of Premier Tech.
“These are the same challenges everywhere in the West, but Quebec – like Canada – is a country of natural resources. The societal challenges before us are perhaps more apparent. The province has nevertheless taken steps recently which put us in the right direction, but we will have to accelerate the pace, otherwise it will not be enough. »
Respecting agricultural land in a context where the province wants to double its energy production, using dams and wind turbines, will require compromises. But Jean Bélanger remains optimistic. “Change will have to come from the population. Not everything will be fixed with the wave of a magic wand. But if we behave in the right way, we will still be here tomorrow,” he concludes.
Or even in 100 years.