STE-SOPHIE, QC – Stéphane Roy, president and CEO of Serres Sagami, has just entered into an agreement with Farm Credit Canada in order to take over the production of greenhouse tomatoes at Serres Lacoste, located in Les Éboulements in the Charlevoix region. Serres Lacoste had recently closed its doors on November 7, 2014. The Serres Lacoste promoters had to file for bankruptcy after spending the last four months trying to restore the company's financial position while it was placed under the protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Since April, the Charlevoix region, which boasts a population of 30 000, has lost 182 jobs, several of which were in the agri-food industry, therefore the announcement of the creation of nearly forty jobs should come as comforting news during this pre-holiday season.
Stéphane Roy said he was proud to enter into this agreement and restore life into the three-hectare production site in the Charlevoix region. The site, which is already equipped with biomass heating, is a perfect fit for Serres Sagami's mission and its environmental objectives. Furthermore, this newly acquired site's proximity to Québec city will allow the company to strategically position itself in the Central Quebec region and provide a more reliable service offer for this sector, stated Stéphane Roy.
For Serres Sagami, this fourth acquisition since the early 2000s makes the greenhouse tomato grower one of the largest greenhouse producers in Quebec. The company, whose headquarters are located in Ste-Sophie in the Laurentians, originally acquired the Sagami facilities in Saguenay in the early 2000s and has since kept the trademark name. In November of 2012, Serres Sagami acquired the Savoura facilities in Ste-Marthe in the county of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and in February of 2013, the company took possession of a production site in Mirabel. The latest acquisition now brings Serres Sagami's total conventional and organic greenhouse tomato production to almost thirteen hectares spread out across Quebec.
About Serres Sagami
For almost 15 years, Serres Sagami has been marketing different varieties of tomatoes, under the Sagami brand name, for the Quebec, Canadian and North American markets. In the spring of 2011, the company added four varieties of organic tomatoes, marketed under the Biologico brand name, to its list of products. This unique expertise makes Biologico a North American leader in this product category. This strategic positioning is clearly identified as the company's long-term vision, which is also based on environmental considerations. These considerations are the reason why the Ste-Sophie facilities were equipped with a biomass heating system, which enabled a drop in GHGs of more than 7500 tonnes annually. As for the company's Saguenay site, the use of hot water from the ELKEM METAL plant located nearby have made it a model of energy efficiency in Quebec.
For more information on Serres Sagami, visit www.sagami.ca
Source: Serres Sagami