After the humor, coffee. Louis Morissette will launch its own brand of canned latte. A project made possible thanks to new equipment unique in Canada.
Station Agro-Biotech invested 30 million – of which 10.6 million came from Quebec – to expand its Saint-Hyacinthe factory and accommodate a new ultra-modern manufacturing line necessary for making this drink.
“I am a fan of this product in the United States,” Louis Morissette said Thursday during a visit to the factory.
“The guy who is going to try to copy us will never be able to,” added Jonathan Robin, president of Station Agro-Biotech, which produces, among other things, Noroi gin and Atypical soft drinks.
If canned latte is not yet produced in Canada, it is because it is complex to manufacture while respecting safety standards. For example, to sterilize a can, it must be heated to a high temperature, which normally causes it to explode. The machine required for this process is costly and expensive to import.
The machine in question, an autoclave, is a real behemoth. The iron monster, imported from France, weighs 65 tons and fills a room on its own.
The huge iron structure is about 70 feet long. The lead time to obtain a machine of this type is about two or three years. Station Agro-Biotech had to expand its factory just for this machine. There was even consideration of building a railway just to transport it to Saint-Hyacinthe.
With these investments, the factory also purchased a new fully automated canning and bottling line.
“Anything that is protein-based,” explains Jonathan Robin, who gives the example of collagen.
The work to accommodate the new machinery took more than two and a half years to complete.
While it may seem like a niche product, Robin explains that the market is growing by 20 to 30 percent in the United States. One of the things the entrepreneur is looking to do with the drink is reach a younger audience.
To finance the project, the company received help from Quebec. The government invested $10.6 million through Investissement Québec and the ESSOR program, for growing businesses.
“Our government is once again proving the importance it places on SMEs and regional development,” said Chantal Soucy, the MP for Saint-Hyacinthe, at a press conference.
Jonathan Robin also explains that this investment will create jobs at the plant. It will increase from 75 to 110 employees.
Louis Morissette’s café au lait should be on shelves “at the beginning of next fall,” he emphasizes.
