Business Profile
The tradition continues…
The history of Les Aliments Lebel Inc. began in the 1930s when Augustin Lebel made ice cream for the Kenogami dairy in Saguenay. His son, Gaetan Lebel, president and general manager, saved the original recipe and, instilled with the same desire to offer ice cream enthusiasts a markedly superior product, he founded Les Aliments Lebel Inc. in 1986.
In those days, a new chain of retail stores came on the scene in Quebec called Price Club, better known as Costco today. The business relationship with Price Club and our company allowed our sales to grow.
During this time, we focused operations on product development and distribution. Thus, the manufacture of our products was sub-contracted to independent ice cream makers across Canada.
In 1997, with the aim to better serve our customers by centralizing operations, Les Aliments Lebel Inc. purchased the Laiterie Lowe Inc. facilities in Lachute.
By the beginning of 1999, demand for the manufacture of traditional frozen desserts and private label products greatly increased. What’s more, a large number of manufacturers in this industry closed their doors in Quebec and Ontario. In order to adapt to these new realities, Mr. Gaetan Lebel decided to build a new manufacturing plant.
This modern manufacturing plant was built in 2000 on the Laiterie Lowe site in Lachute. In addition to allowing us to respond to the growing demand for frozen desserts, this new facility made it possible for us to develop the new products sought after by our customers.
Another expansion took place in 2008 when our company acquired a new machine for manufacturing extruded frozed desserts . This investment enabled us to develop a new niche of high quality ice cream products.
In January 2009, a large factory expansion gave us the opportunity to execute a redevelopment plan that increased operational functionality and efficiency.
We currently possess the largest plant for manufacturing ice cream and frozen desserts in Quebec and our company is the only producer of ice pops in the province.