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Montreal, September 9, 2020 – Les Serres Royales, a family-owned business in Saint-Jérôme, is investing $20 million to offer Quebecers cherry, grape and vine tomatoes as of fall 2021, thanks to the construction of three new hectares of new greenhouses. This unique new system of semi-closed greenhouses will save energy and reduce the ecological impact of production. Thanks to the lower energy impact and year-round production, the company expects to increase its production by 50% and create 40 new jobs within three years.

“We believe that Quebec has the potential to produce fresh, high-quality food 365 days a year, and for us, this new construction is another step towards conscious, committed, but above all, local entrepreneurship,” says Stéphan Lemieux, President and General Manager of Les Serres Royales. “We are committed to meeting this growing demand, and we sincerely hope that Quebecers will only find tasty tomatoes on their plates.”

A GROWING FAMILY BUSINESS
The company has grown more than tenfold since its inception, from 10,000 square feet at the onset to 3.9 million square feet today, the equivalent of a 26,665-car parking lot. It has won several awards in recent years for its sound financial management and its vision of agriculture, including gold in the Agricultural SME category of the National Bank’s SME Award in 2015 and a finalist at the Zenith Gala of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Saint-Jérôme (CCISJM).

“Competition in fresh produce is very strong, with nearly 50% of the tomatoes on the shelves coming from outside Quebec. We remain the largest producers of small tomatoes in Quebec, and possibly in Canada,” says Pascal Lemieux, Assistant Manager, Les Serres Royales.

Having worked with the company all their lives, the Lemieux brothers, the company’s new sole owners, are proud to proud to carry on the family tradition with a shift towards low-impact ecological operations and a view to becoming leaders in small and organic tomato production in the coming years.

ENCOURAGING LOCAL AND RESPONSIBLE PURCHASING
This investment aligns with our desire to always be at the forefront of responsible technologies to produce high quality, tasty and fresh local tomatoes. From now on, you will find Les Serres Royales’ tomatoes under the name of Tomates DIVA in all the major grocery chains, including IGA, Provigo, Maxi, Super C, Rachelle Béry and more.

About Les Serres Royales

Les Serres Royales was founded in 1995 by Gilles, Pascal, Stéphan and Cécile Lemieux, in Saint-Jérôme, in the Lower Laurentians, and currently employs 80 people. A producer of conventional and organic tomatoes, Les Serres Royales specializes above all in the production of small tomatoes. Their 60 twin greenhouses produce more than 275,000 plants, protected from the elements and maintained according to best practices. In addition to the production reserved for the Quebec market, the family business exports to the United States and Ontario.



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