The Patates Dolbec story started with a couple’s dream. Francine Sauvageau and Herman Dolbec, both from the Portneuf area, weren’t happy with their respective waitressing and logging jobs, but didn’t want to leave home in search of new work. Since they both had a passion for farming and a taste for entrepreneurship, the solution soon became clear: why not grow potatoes? Making a living from potatoes would be quite a challenge, but Francine and Herman decided to forge ahead and realize their dream. What an adventure it would be!
In 1967, Herman and Francine embarked on their potato growing project by buying a small business belonging to Herman’s father. At the time, Adrien Dolbec had no idea the horse, plow and 25 acres of land he sold to his son would put Saint-Ubalde on the map and make the Dolbec name famous across Quebec and Canada, and even as far afield as the United States!
Since money was tight at the beginning, the couple set up their company in the obvious place: their home! They made room for an office on the first level and a warehouse in the basement. To make a decent living from potatoes, they realized they needed more land. For their first expansion, they chose a piece of land at Montauban-des-Mines for its sandy soils. At first, they harvested with a horse and plow, followed by a small open tractor and harvester. Fifty-pound bags were filled as the potatoes were pulled out of the ground, and were left lying in the field. At the end of the day, they would use the tractor and a flatbed trailer to gather all the bags and store them in the basement. But their work was far from done. They would then have to hand-pack 5- and 10-pound bags, to be sold door to door …
His death came as a huge shock and tremendous loss, both personally and professionally. Despite their grief, Francine and Stéphan decided to roll up their shirtsleeves and keep the dream alive. With the support of their solid team—including Jean-Luc Picard, an accountant with Bédard & Guilbault, and crop production manager Vital Béliveau—they kept the company going.
At the time of its founder’s death, Patates Dolbec owned 3,500 acres of land, harvested over 40,000,000 pounds of potatoes; had a storage capacity of 500 tractor-trailers; sold close to 4,000,000 ten-pound bags of potatoes per year; and employed 75 people.
With a view to diversifying its markets, Patates Dolbec started the fresh-cut processing company Légubec. From now on, the company would process its Canada #2 potatoes, along with other vegetables.
To keep pace with growth, the administrative team had to be reorganized. With a solid new team in place, the company forged ahead.
The company acquired a second vegetable processing plant, Légumes Lapointe, at Vanier in the Quebec City area. Légubec was moved to Vanier. Seeking to combine research with production, Patates Dolbec entered into a partnership agreement with Université Laval. From now on, the company would have an in-house agronomist and research laboratory for several different projects. To this day, the partnership has been extremely beneficial to both parties.
Acquisition of over 800 acres of land and purchase of high-tech agricultural equipment, including a tractor with an autopilot system (it basically drives itself!). The company also purchased its first two GPS guidance systems for potato planting. Technology is really changing the face of agriculture! This period also saw the construction of a new garage, fully equipped to accommodate all the new equipment.
The energy, innovation and business acumen of Stéphan and his team earned them the recognition of their peers: Stéphan received the Ernst & Young Quebec Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the agri-food sector.
