Veal, Lamb and Purple Trays

For a bit of background, the Fontaine brothers grew up on a farm. They founded their family business in 1989 under the name Délimax. In 2019, 30 years later, and after merging with the Montpak group a few years earlier, the brothers decided to create a processed-products brand that would bear their name. Thus, Famille Fontaine was born— a proudly local brand offering milk-fed veal, grain-fed veal, lamb, and beef cuts, as well as popular ready-to-cook products.

Here is our interview with Alex Fontaine, the youngest of the family and CEO of the company’s meat division.

Which of your products should people absolutely try?

We get a lot of comments about our aged veal chop, which is simply fantastic, but our ready-to-cook products are also very popular. Consumers were convinced that veal was a difficult meat to cook, something reserved for restaurant dinners or special occasions. Bold as we are, we set ourselves the mission of democratizing veal and proving that it can be eaten year-round. That’s when our ready-to-cook line was born. These products are easy to prepare, healthy, and incredibly delicious. They’re perfect for busy weeknights and BBQ season. People are crazy about our veal kefta!

Speaking of boldness, launching purple trays took quite a bit of it!

100% recycled and 100% recyclable, too! We thought long and hard before taking the leap, and it was truly a team effort. The packaging was designed to showcase the meat at its best— and it seems to be working!

Would you say that Quebecers still put a lot of meat on their plates?

At Famille Fontaine, we’ve always advocated for quality over quantity. Portions should be reasonable, and people should eat locally produced meat, raised with care. Our processed products come in portioned formats and have short ingredient lists. That’s what consumers want: to eat less meat, sure, but to eat good meat.

What are you most proud of?

My brothers and I built something from nothing. We’re passionate, we work hard, and above all, we’re hands-on people. We spend our time in the barns, in the plants, with our teams. We’re the first generation of Fontaine to work in the business, and the second generation is already part of the adventure. They’ll bring great things forward in their turn.

What mark do you hope to leave on Quebec’s agri-food landscape?

What we do goes beyond the brand and the products that end up on store shelves. Of course, we want to offer new and innovative products, but behind them is a huge team working in research and development to improve production and make it more eco-friendly.

Right now, we’re heavily focused on circular economy practices and repurposing production waste. For example, we use whey from nearby cheesemakers to feed our animals. One person’s waste can be another’s resource. We want to implement more initiatives like this.

Quebec’s beef industry has a tremendous need for development, and we’re here to work on that.