Wachon Bakery: $ 10 million defense wall completed

A victim of the spring floods in 2019, Wachon Bakery in Saint-Marie de Beaus completed $ 10M of work to build the 848-meter-long wall that will prevent any future flooding.

According to Mary-Eve Royer, Senior Vice President of Processing at Wachon Bakery, Bimbo Canada, this significant investment is synonymous with Quebec’s commitment.

Upon completion of the project, the multinational company chose to place the original Century site in Saint-Mary to ensure its sustainability in the community.

“The work began in February 2021,” said Guy Larochel, operations manager at Wachon Bakery in St. Mary’s.

It added $ 90 million in 2019 to rebuild equipment and repair damage to the building, which affected production for several days.

The wall will strengthen the bakery’s ability to continue production when future floods occur. The factory produces Jose Louis, Ah Caramel, May West, Passion Flaky and many more. There are about 500 people working there.

“We know that Wachon Bakery in Saint-Mary is a very important owner. For Bimbo Canada, it is important to maintain operations on the site. That fact must be taken into account. ”

“This is to keep the production of Wachon products, which many Quebecs love, safe in Quebec,” he said.

The project was carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and municipal officials.

“We have worked closely with the Ministry to ensure that the project meets all standards,” Mr Larochel continued.

According to Gaimand Droin, director of engineering at St. Mary’s Bakery, the best professionals have been brought together to help embody this initiative.

“We studied historical flood levels. We also studied how flooding might occur in the future. The wall was designed to withstand historic floods. We used really good information to get the best results. We are very confident and we are very proud of the work we have built, ”said Mr. Drouin.

Shortage of labor

As with most businesses today, Wachon is no exception to the labor shortage.

“It simply came to our notice then. Everyone was in the same boat. Yes, even though we have provided favorable conditions, we still have recruitment challenges, ”added Mr. Larochel.

The Saint-Mary Plant has vacancies for maintenance of its equipment such as mechanics and electrical engineers.