Lamontagne Chocolate: A business in the Estrie region at the cutting edge of automation
For over 45 years, Lamontagne Chocolate has stood out for its quality chocolate products thanks to its recognized know-how. The Sherbrooke-based family business recently made the shift to automation by acquiring the best state-of-the-art equipment on the market.
Summary
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Business: Lamontagne Chocolate This CED support has made it possible: to acquire and install new automated production equipment (including coating, boiling and cooling systems). The project has also enabled the client to conduct marketing activities to develop the U.S. market and obtain the BRCGS 2200 certification (globally recognized product quality and safety). |
A family business in a time of renewal
This move towards automation is part of a strategic realignment to ensure a high level of quality and production, aimed at conquering new market shares and expanding the business’s services for its current customers.
Founded by Richard Lamontagne, first as a chocolate producer for self-funding campaigns, the Lamontagne brand entered the retail market in 2018 and won the Canadian Grand Prix New Product Award from the Retail Council of Canada in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2024. Also in 2024, Mr. Lamontagne’s children, Tina and Danny, acquired all of the business’s shares.
“Tina and I had already been involved in the business for some 15 years and had great ideas for Lamontagne Chocolate’s future. Acquiring the shares has enabled us to apply our new vision 100%.”
Danny Lamontagne, Regional Director, Lamontagne Chocolate
A vision for optimized production
Following the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic, the business made storage, automation and exporting a major focus. With partners such as Investissement Québec, Desjardins and CED, close to $15 million in investments has made it possible to expand Lamontagne Chocolate’s production plant, double sales, and improve the business’s production efficiency, in addition to creating jobs.
“I believe that, in Lamontagne Chocolate’s history, there will be the period before this investment and the one after. This is a decisive moment for our production capacity,” states Danny Lamontagne
Automating the fruit and nut coating and chocolate tempering process has been primordial to ensure product quality and consistency, in addition to enabling employees to keep busy with other operational activities. Chocolate is a temperamental substance that requires precision when being worked with, especially in the case of industrial production: Temperature and humidity are controlled throughout the process to avoid crystallization.
It is in Sherbrooke, in its 115,000-square-foot plant, that Lamontagne Chocolate produces and stores its chocolates, which are certified gluten free, have no trace of peanuts and are kosher, meeting the needs of a diverse range of customers. Leveraging its assets, Lamontagne Chocolate is seeking to increase its market share in Canada and the U.S. Already one of the largest chocolate producers in the country, it is known today as a key player in the North American chocolate industry, a Quebec success showcasing the Estrie region’s know-how internationally.
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