D’Origina: treasures of the boreal forest
Forget about half-timbering and pulp and paper! Discover instead the treasure trove of non-timber forest products found in the boreal forest undergrowth and brought out into the light by the avant-garde forestry co-op, Coopérative forestière de Girardville.
In 2009, Coopérative forestière de Girardville celebrated its 30th year. Building on that 30-year foundation, the visionary co-op is firmly focused on the future! After concentrating on harvesting black spruce needles and branches to extract essential oils, it is now working to develop new products from the riches available once the wood is harvested: needles, plants, branches, roots, stems, leaves and flowers.
Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed…
“Ahead of their time, the founders understood that they needed to diversify their silvicultural operations while developing regional expertise. Our ongoing concern with profitability has prompted us to vary our activities and undertake the secondary and tertiary processing of our products,”
explained General Manager Jérôme Simard.
Founded in 1979 through the initiative of a few individuals seeking work, the Coopérative forestière de Girardville currently boasts 183 members, employs nearly 460 people, posts annual sales of $22 million and awards $12 million in contracts to enterprises in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. These results show that job creation and sustainable development can indeed go hand in hand, something Coopérative forestière de Girardville has been proving time and again.
After six years of work and research, the Coopérative recently launched a new line of products marketed under the d’Origina label. Imagine a selection of wild spices with such evocative names as Peppery Green Alder, Labrador Tea Spice, Sweet Gale Seeds, Subtlety of Wild Currant Wonder and Powdered Wintergreen. It’s like having the boreal forest on your plate. These unique spices are a first step in the development of a marketing plan for some 20 other products currently undergoing laboratory assessment.
With Canada Economic Development’s financial support, the Coopérative has been able to redevelop a section of its existing building for the processing of its new products. This project will create 15 seasonal jobs for the drying and grinding of plants used to produce the natural spices and maintain 15 seasonal jobs for the co-op’s picking operations.
“When Jacques Cartier arrived in Quebec thinking he had found the road to India and spices, he wasn’t that far off the mark because he had discovered the road to the spices of the boreal forest! We now need to share these treasures with the rest of the world!”
said Mr. Simard.
This new initiative demonstrates that the forest holds many assets that communities can turn to advantage to remain economically healthy. The operations of the Coopérative forestière de Girardville are excellent examples of economic diversification and valuable sustainable development practices.
