The joy of eating fresh strawberries in fall and tomatoes in winter!
Left to right: Guy St-Amant, Process and Engineering Director, Sonia Gignac, Plant Director, André Gosselin, President, Sébastien Léonhart, Scientific Director, Pierre-Jérôme Légaré, Sales and Marketing Director, and Eva Bernard, Administrative Assistant.
Today André Gosselin, Ph. D. in Horticulture and Plant Biology and Professor Emeritus at Université Laval, continues to pursue his goal to liberate market gardeners from the rigours of winter so they can compete with foreign producers. By developing a photosynthetic lighting technology for greenhouses that extends the growing season year-round for several varieties of fruits and vegetables, his work has given horticultural research a shot in the arm.
From researcher … to entrepreneur
André Gosselin has a knack for bringing things together. During his flourishing career, he has melded research and entrepreneurship and rallied research colleagues and other partners around many ambitious projects. Members of his family helped him found Les Serres du Saint-Laurent, a firm that has had considerable commercial success with its Savoura tomatoes. Mr. Gosselin is also the man behind Les Fraises de l’Île d’Orléans, an SME that has made its mark for the continuous cultivation of strawberries we can enjoy until September.
Professor Gosselin has a long and impressive track record of accomplishments. He was the first Francophone Quebecer to be made a Fellow of the American Horticultural Society and to have received the highest distinction awarded by the Government of Quebec in the field of industrial research and development, two awards that are but a small reflection of his illustrious career.
Reaping the benefits of nature
Through his research André Gosselin has extended the harvest season in Quebec.
Both fascinated and inspired by Mother Nature, André Gosselin continues to study her closely so that we can benefit from her bounty of blessings. He developed the world’s first nutraceutical strawberry and raspberry plants—containing a record level of antioxidants—and, in 2006, launched Nutra Canada Inc., an SME located in Champlain, in Mauricie.
Specialized in the production of dried fruit, vegetable and medicinal plant extracts, Nutra Canada’s mission is to promote health and wellness through nutraceuticals. Canada Economic Development is proud to have contributed to the startup of Nutra Canada and the commercialisation of its products.
Even though he has published some 150 scientific articles and delivered more than 300 lectures around the world, André Gosselin remains a child of Île d’Orléans who is sure to smile when he hears the lyrics of Félix Leclerc’s famous song, Le Tour de l'Île:
“Forty-two miles
Like waves the mountains
The fruit is ripe
In the orchards
Of my country.”
(our translation)
For more information on Nutra Canada
