You walk down the aisles of a retailer and come across a product bearing a logo with the “Made in Quebec” fleur-de-lis. It may not be what you think.
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• Read also: Quebec products: consumers ready to buy local, but not more expensive
“Real Quebec product certification goes much too far, we are not ready for that,” admits Lise Arsenault of the manufacturing company Cuisines Tech Profab.
Its kitchen cabinets and vanity units bear the “Signée Québec” seal, a logo created by the Association of Manufacturers and Retailers of the Kitchen Industry of Quebec.
To qualify, all you need is a Quebec business number. There is no audit on the manufacture of the product.
In the specific case of M.me Arsenault, it is in terms of hardware that it is difficult to obtain supplies in Quebec. Even if its factory is located in Repentigny and it employs people from here, it is unrealistic to think that it could produce 100% locally.
“Signée Québec is to promote our businesses, our industry and our economy. It’s similar to what the Blue Basket does,” explains the business manager.
The Panier Bleu transactional site allows local merchants to sell products that can come from anywhere.
Less than 1% of the products offered on the site are Quebec certified, recently pointed out the Minister of the Economy of Quebec, Pierre Fitzgibbon.
We’re talking about 800 products out of 100,000. “It’s not a lot and I hope it will increase,” he said.
Self-proclaimed or not
If it is difficult to find lice in an entrepreneur like Lise Arsenault who does her best to promote what is happening in Quebec, the minister puts his finger on a problem.
There is only one organization that certifies local products, Les Produits du Québec, which was created just 12 months ago.
“We are not just on the Blue Basket, we are also directly on the company’s online store or in store”, indicates the general manager, Elfi Morin.
Chantal Poirier / JdeM
The Products of Quebec logo, which are certified through exhaustive verification
Its objective is to meet the expectations of Quebecers. “People want to know where the product comes from. The only way to do that is to have a brand that assures you of that,” she says.
If Aliments du Québec has 1,600 participating businesses, Mme Morin and his team managed to convince nearly 100 in one year.
For the time being, they can only observe the proliferation of “Made in Quebec” logos, such as that of Jonathan Lavoie.
“It’s a graphic designer who made me my logo “Made in Quebec”. My products come from Terrebonne and Brossard,” says the owner of D-CO, which sells and installs custom blinds and shades.
The Quebec Furniture Manufacturers Association also has its “Meuble du Québec” logo. Again, this is not a guarantee of local manufacture.
“We don’t feel the need to have a certification with a structure. We take it for granted that when it comes out of a Quebec factory, it’s a Quebec product,” says Julie Lamarre, marketing director of the association.
The verification that leads to certification is not popular, at least not as much as the fleur-de-lis logos.