Already established for over 30 years in the Dominican Republic, Les Fermes Trudeau, in Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil in Montérégie, have recently boosted their brand image in the country's major supermarkets.
The president of the company specializing in herbs, Gérard Trudeau, describes this entrepreneurial decision as daring, given the steps he has taken over the past year to maximize the visibility of his image on grocery store shelves. Dominican. "There was a knock on the door of the big chains that showed interest and to support our brand, I gave a lot of interviews to the media [in the Dominican Republic]", says the man who speaks fluent Spanish.
Employees of Trudeau Farms, based in the mountainous Jarabacoa region, then ensured the positioning of operating products in more than 200 points of sale, including those of one of the largest food chains in this country, Jumbo supermarkets.
With this new strategy, Mr. Trudeau says he was faced with only one real challenge: the contradiction between the Canadian name of his business and its location in the Dominican Republic. “It piqued the curiosity of consumers. It was up to me to explain that all our products are grown locally, that they are not imported, "he said.
Ensure growth
Mr. Trudeau also plans to reproduce this exercise in the local media for his production in Mexico, in the state of Puebla. For about five years, the entrepreneur has breathed new life into his activities in the region and wants to promote his products more nationally.
Both in the Dominican Republic and in Mexico, "we are with large populations. The standard of living is constantly increasing and there are more and more people in the middle class, ”he explains. The expansion of its activities may also benefit the next generation of his business, his two sons Vincent and Martin, anticipates the producer.
As soon as he took over his father's farm in 1984, Mr. Trudeau quickly succeeded in positioning himself on the international market. So far, he says he maintains the same overseas business philosophy. "We don't impose ourselves, we make ourselves accepted," he said. The businessman organized a meeting in October, where Quebec entrepreneurs were invited to meet with leaders of the Dominican Republic’s Investment Center to promote, among other things, agricultural exports to the country. "In business, you can't just think of hosting. The more you give, the more likely you are to receive, ”he concludes.
In brief :
- Trudeau Farms is one of the five largest producers of herbs in the world.
- As early as 2000, the company started growing Asian vegetables such as bok choy, tok choy, mininappa, Swiss chard and kale, all of which have become popular in Quebec.
- Gérard Trudeau directs most of his activities from his office in his grandfather's birthplace in Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil.
Source : Josianne Desjardins, La Terre de chez nous
