Boulangerie St-Donat in full circular economy mode

To read the official press release

In proactive mode, Boulangerie St-Donat is currently looking for business partnerships and opportunities to recycle its production residues. Having initiated a process in recent years with the aim of minimizing rejects and losses by optimizing its processes, the company is actively seeking solutions to remedy the situation. Find out more about their initiative, in collaboration with the Conseil de développement bioalimentaire de Lanaudière, as part of the food symbiosis deployment of the Synergie Lanaudière project led by Lanaudière Économique and in partnership with the Société d'aide au développement des collectivités (SADC) Matawinie. 

Marie-Ève St-Amour, President and CEO (Boulangerie St-Donat)

A flagship company in the region

In operation since 1924, Boulangerie St-Donat is a pastry-making business based in the municipality of Saint-Donat, with over 70 employees. The company stands out not only for the diversity and quality of its products, but also for the simplicity of its ingredients. Among the company's favorite products: pies, cakes, maple products, creamy sugar swirls, more commonly known as "Sister Pets", and all the other little treats that go with them. La Boulangerie will also be celebrating its 100th anniversary.e anniversary in just a few months! The region is proud to have a flagship company like Boulangerie St-Donat on its territory. To find out more : https://boulangeriestdonat.com/

Production scrap: a partnership in the air?

Innovative, proactive and driven by a growing awareness of sustainable development, the company is determined to make a real difference by trying to find alternatives to recycle pie dough scraps, in particular. The production of pies generates a large quantity of dough scraps. In recent years, La Boulangerie has optimized its production to minimize waste, developed new products and invested in automating its processes. However, a significant quantity of dough scrap is used to feed animals, but could be transformed into another by-product for human consumption. The company has therefore embarked on a process to optimize the circularity of its products, and to characterize and quantify its rejects.

Boulangerie St-Donat is currently working on developing new partnerships to add value to its off-cuts, and is looking for new outlets.

From left to right: Gabrielle Duval, Synergie Lanaudière Project Manager, Marie-Ève St-Amour, President and CEO (Boulangerie St-Donat), Emmanuelle Lefebvre, Economic Development Advisor and responsible for the Virage Vert program (SADC Matawinie) and Melissa Zbacnik-D'Antonio, Project Manager (CTTÉI).

An approach that speaks for itself!

Thanks to the support of the Conseil de développement bioalimentaire de Lanaudière and the Synergie Lanaudière project, as well as SADC Matawinie via its Virage vert program, La Boulangerie has just carried out a more detailed analysis of the real costs associated with not reclaiming waste. This analysis of material flow costs (ACFM) was carried out by the Centre de transfert technologique en écologie industrielle (CTTEI), renowned for its expertise in the circular economy and in solutions for reclaiming residual materials. This approach enabled them to determine the real cost of waste during production, to identify materials that would enable them to make savings, and to improve their productivity and profitability. ACFM is a tool for identifying opportunities to increase profits while reducing the environmental footprint of organizations.


La Boulangerie is therefore currently working to go even further in terms of reducing production and packaging waste, and is keen to find new outlets for pie dough off-cuts and swirls, which are mainly made up of flour, lard and, depending on the case, filling.

Any company interested in finding out more about the exact composition of the dough, or in having samples to test fresh or cooked in their production or in the formulation of a new product, can contact Gabrielle Duval, Synergie Lanaudière project manager, at gduval@cdbl.ca

ABOUT SYNERGIE LANAUDIÈRE

Supported by Lanaudière Économique, Synergie Lanaudière offers support to companies and organizations wishing to make the transition to a circular economy, notably by exchanging resources, finding outlets for their residual materials, sourcing locally from recycled materials and developing new value-added products from by-products. The Conseil de développement bioalimentaire de Lanaudière develops food symbiosis. To find out more, click here: https://cdbl.ca/synergie-lanaudiere/.

ABOUT THE "VIRAGE VERT" PROGRAM - SADC AND CAE DU QUÉBEC

The program is designed to provide specialized external expertise to help companies wishing to improve their environmental and economic performance to go further in their process of adopting structuring eco-responsible practices and implementing clean technologies: www.matawinie.qc.ca/programme-virage-vert/

ABOUT CTTÉI

Since 1999, the Centre de transfert technologique en écologie industrielle (CTTÉI) has been developing and sharing unrivalled expertise in waste management. It enhances the performance of businesses and communities through research and development of innovative approaches and technologies, of which the Synergie Québec community is a part. The CTTÉI is affiliated with the Cégep de Sorel-Tracy. http://www.cttei.com/

Supporting and accompanying entrepreneurs in their start-up and development projects

We can offer you flexible financing solutions tailored to your reality