Le petit abattoir, the first solidarity cooperative in Quebec to offer slaughter services for pasture-raised birds, will begin its activities in August, in Montérégie. Built from five shipping containers, the facility nearly never saw the light of day due to spiraling costs stemming from the pandemic.
“I finally feel like I’m getting my head above water,” says Fernande Ouellet. For this duck and geese breeder who has been overseeing a slaughterhouse project in Saint-Joachim-de-Shefford for more than two years, Christmas arrived in June this year: “It’s today, this very morning, that we have received our operating license from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency”.
This is the green light that the company lacked to start its activities. This solidarity cooperative will offer, in two months, a small-scale slaughtering service for poultry. It has also taken steps to obtain similar authorizations for rabbits.
The creation of this one-of-a-kind project, supported by artist Marc Séguin among others, stems from the difficulty experienced by small poultry producers in finding their place in industrial facilities, explains Ms.me Ouellet. She cites the example of her own artisanal farm located in Granby — Rusé comme un canard — which specializes in breeding ducks and geese. “When we started in 2011, four slaughterhouses could take our birds. Today, only one remains, on Île d’Orléans. »
Small producers
The slaughter supply in the province is deficient, she believes, recalling the strike at the Exceldor plant last year: nearly a million chickens had to be euthanized. The concentration of slaughter capacity among a few large players has considerably reduced that available to small farmers.
“In fact, the big slaughterhouses owe us nothing. We said to ourselves that it was up to us to develop our solutions, to respond with a model that suits us, and that’s what we did,” she says.
This model is in France, the United States, Australia and Germany that she found it. “There are small slaughterhouses there that are built from shipping containers, and that’s what we decided to do,” she says. She points to the five 53-foot containers that form a warehouse-like installation behind her.
However, there is nothing. Each container is a division that meets the standards of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which are among the highest in the world. “It’s like a Westfalia here, everything is small and ergonomically designed. But we respect each of the standards, ”she assures.
Beyond the unusual installation – whose slaughter capacity will reach up to 800 poultry per day – it is also the approach that differs. “We offer training to member breeders so that they can themselves, if they want to, slaughter their poultry. Now, the majority of them want to participate in this stage which, in their eyes, is part of the breeding,” says Fernande Ouellet.
More expensive
However, this project was almost derailed. With the pandemic, costs have exploded, she recalls: “A new container that cost $3,200 in 2019 was worth $18,000 at one point. I’m blessed because we managed to find used ones for $5,000. »
Nevertheless, setting up the Petit abattoir will ultimately cost 40% more than initially estimated. Valued at $525,100 in 2019, the bill jumped to “something that should gravitate to between $850,000 and $900,000.”
Mme Ouellet indicates that “ad hoc financial assistance” of $100,000 from the Government of Quebec was nevertheless necessary for the realization of the project. “It gave us the breath of fresh air we needed to finalize the project. »
In interview at To have to, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, André Lamontagne, explains that the initial budget has increased considerably. “And to be honest, we wanted this project to happen. It was very important for us, because it allows us to test this concept, which is promising for local breeding. »
He adds: “It is important to provide an environment conducive to the development of all types of farming. This project is innovative and promising for local agriculture. »
Fernande Ouellet makes no secret of it, she would like other similar slaughterhouses to see the light of day elsewhere in the province. “The goal would be to replicate the model elsewhere. My dream, it may be a bit crazy, is that every MRC has one. »