Many people have lost their primary sources of income during the pandemic and food prices have skyrocketed, making healthy eating difficult for many families across the Valley. Recently, a Saint-Stanislas restaurant, La Marine Marchande, teamed up with Valleyfield’s Distillerie 3 Lacs to benefit the Breakfast Club of Canada, an organization that provides students with healthy food.
La Marine Marchande opened in 2019. Though it is about to celebrate its third anniversary, the restaurant has been closed for almost half that time due to the pandemic. Co-owner Julie Dallaire describes it as “a bit like a bistro, a bit gastronomic but accessible for everyone and for all tastes.” The owners try to have the restaurant as self-sufficient as possible, particularly in the summer when they can grow a lot of their own ingredients. They also have 13 gardens growing produce for them – they are very devoted to freshness.
Distillerie 3 Lacs was started in 2016, with the goal of making gins that used citrus and local products to create unique flavours. Together, the two businesses have started making and selling a gin-based grapefruit and rosemary jelly. Dallaire grows the rosemary, and the distillery has leftover grapefruit from its flavoured gin; using these products, the team has created a delicious jelly.
All profits from sales of this jelly go directly to the Breakfast Club. Dallaire explains: “Previously in life I was a school counselor. Seeing students who [had no food] was frequent; I saw it daily.” Since the two businesses are based in food products, it also made sense for them to work with a food-based organization.
The Breakfast Club doesn’t have any restrictions on who can and can’t access it; any student can get a meal or a healthy snack. “Once the project is in a school, it doesn’t matter who you are, anyone can have access to it and benefit from it,” says Dallaire.
The two businesses share a lot of common values, she explains. “We really believe in a circular economy. We believe in partnerships between businesses, and want to create more and more common projects, not just work alone.” Dallaire hopes that this project will inspire other businesses in the Valley. “A project like [this] shows that two regional businesses working together for a project is good and can be efficient. And we wanted to make sure to instill something good into the community as well.”
This is the second year that the jelly has been on the market. Last year, it brought in approximately $6000 for the Breakfast Club. So far this year, the team has provided the Club with a cheque for $3500, which is enough to feed 7000 students. They still have lots of jelly left to sell; if all is sold, Dallaire believes the total donation this year will be closer to $8000.
The jelly is currently being sold at both La Marine Marchande and Distillerie 3 Lacs. Both businesses are hoping to sell a product for a cause like this every year. This jelly was the first gin-based food product like this in Quebec; there are now a few others, but this is still the only collaboration of its kind between two distinct businesses. The fact that it benefits such a great cause only makes the project that much sweeter.