By Gault et Millau -The story begins in Saint-Rémi, about 30 km south of Montréal. There, six years ago, brothers Stéphane and Anthony Buquet began cultivating their first flowers. With 16 greenhouses and lots of love, the Pure Horticulture family was able to grow and now produces vegetable, fruit and herb (their specialty) seedlings, distributed among some 30 grocery stores in the greater Montréal region. At their stalls in Atwater Market, you are sure to meet Valérie, Anthony’s partner and the cofounder of the business. In Stéphane’s opinion, she’s much more photogenic. Chervil and common sage wouldn’t disagree.
New Consumer Habits
Valérie observes that an increasing number of conventional farms have made the switch to organic. “Many producers have stopped spraying their crops with chemical products. It’s bad for the earth, and they see it over time.” All of the in-house products, like those of their suppliers, are organically certified by Québec Vrai. However, the organic label is not always enough to meet the expectations of customers who, above all, want Québec grown products. “It’s a huge trend,” notes Valérie, “consumers want locally grown food above all, and prefer conventional, non-organic locally grown products to organic products that come from far away.” Pure Horticulture is able to meet both these criteria with its herbs, fruits, vegetables and other plants that are both organic and locally grown.
Discover Pure Horticulture’s high-quality products at Atwater Market’s sites 70 to 73 for the annual and perennial flower and bulb stand and sites 25 and 26 for the vegetable and herb seedling stand.
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Article and photo: Basile Maratilie