Groupe Bergeron-Thibault: a family affair!
in 1913,
J. Eudore Bergeron bought a butter-making plant that had been originally built in 1893 in accordance with the government standards of the time. It was actually his wife (Rose-Anna Hardy de Chatillon) who bought the facility, but her husband had to consent to the purchase since women were not allowed to undertake such transactions in those days.
Right up to 1941, Mr. Bergeron produced butter in all its forms, but that year saw the first of several important transformations the plant would undergo. In fact, the company ceased manufacturing butter, instead receiving it in bulk, unsalted, then adding salt and cutting it into blocks. Then in 1950, the product we now know as margarine began to appear on the market. The Bergeron family business underwent another major shift when it abandoned the production of butter for margarine.
meanwhile,
J. Daniel Thibault, also a butter and cheese maker by profession in Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Quebec, was producing a butter substitute, then called "table spread." Mr. Thibault’s sons, Marcel and Paul, subsequently joined the family business, hence the name D.P.M. Thibault.
In 1961, the Quebec Government of Jean Lesage passed legislation governing the manufacture of "table spread." The product was finally recognized and became known as margarine. D.P.M. Thibault built a new factory in 1983 at Trois-Rivières, Quebec equipped with technology to boost production capacity to 100,000 pounds of margarine a day. In 1986, Lavo Groupe bought the company, changing the name to Margarine Thibault inc.
Ahead of the trend, Margarine Thibault launched a non-hydrogenated margarine in 1994, which it called Nuvel, a product of exceptional nutritional quality since it contained virtually no "trans" fat. A year later, the Montreal Heart Institute Research Fund gave its seal of approval, affirming that Nuvel non-hydrogenated margarine offered real health benefits.
In 1997, Margarine Thibault was acquired by J.E. Bergeron & fils to become Groupe Bergeron-Thibault. The company obtained its HACCP (food safety systems) certification a few years later, in 2003.
Development of the international market has progressed steadily, and today Groupe Bergeron-Thibault specializes in the manufacture of a range of products: margarine; non-hydrogenated margarine; non-hydrogenated trans-fat-free margarine for croissants; margarine for pastry; margarine for icing; non-refrigerating margarine, etc.
Since 1913, four generations of Bergerons have stayed true to their mission: offering high-quality food products that are healthy and delicious, diversified and adapted to their customers’ needs.