St-Albert: Our history

Module 1: Our history

Introduction

Welcome to the first module! We'll talk about the history of Saint-Albert Cheese Factory, from 1894 to today. That's more than 130 years of passion for cheese, with the same Franco-Ontarian pride.

Our Beginnings

Saint-Albert Cheese Factory opened in 1894 in the village of Saint-Albert, Ontario. A group of Franco-Ontarian dairy producers founded it, with Louis Génier, Joseph Forgues, and Jean-Baptiste Ouimet as leaders.

From the beginning, it was a cooperative - farmers worked together, sharing costs and benefits. This way of doing things was important for the Franco-Ontarian community.

The First Decades

In 1931, the cheese factory was sold to a businessman. But in 1939, local producers gathered enough money to buy it back. This shows how important it was to the community.

The Evolution

In the 1950s, we built a new factory and modernized our equipment, while keeping our traditional recipes.

The 1970s brought milk quotas to Canada. We adapted and continued to grow.

In 1983, we reached one million dollars in profits!

The Expansion

In 1994, we celebrated our centennial.  

In 2009, we bought Mirabel Cheese Factory in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec.

The Fire Trial

On February 3, 2013, a fire destroyed a large part of our factory. We rebuilt a modern factory that opened in 2014. Our cheese curds were so popular that they were sold on the black market during reconstruction!

Today

In 2019, we celebrated our 125th anniversary. Today, our cooperative has about 20 farm members. We process about 40 million liters of milk per year!

Our new factory combines traditions and modern technologies, with the same attention to quality since 1894.

Conclusion

Being part of Saint-Albert means joining a company with more than 130 years of history. We're proud to continue this Franco-Ontarian cheese tradition while looking to the future.

In the next module, we'll explore what the cheese factory does.