Kraft Heinz with Quebec sauce

If someone visited every home in Quebec, they would more often find food made by Kraft Heinz… than an Internet connection. This shows how popular this multinational’s product range is. However, it is not so well known that its peanut butter, its famous ketchup, Kraft Dinner, vinaigrettes and Philadelphia cream cheese are all cooked here, in Mont-Royal, a stone’s throw from the interchange Décarie.

The new president of Kraft Heinz for Canada, Simon Laroche, wants that to change.

Originally from Charlevoix, the Quebecer – the first in 40 years to occupy this position – wants his compatriots to discover the extent of the local activities of the company he has been running for nine months.

That’s why he invited me to tour the huge 1 million square foot factory where nearly 1,000 people work day and night. A proposal that we cannot refuse as it is exceptional. Moreover, no one at Kraft Heinz remembers a previous media visit to this place where hygiene measures are extremely strict.

To give you an idea, I wasn’t able to keep my own pen to take notes along the way. I was provided with a geolocatable model of it, in case I dropped it in a peanut butter jar or on a conveyor belt.

Wedged between Highway 40, a railway and two Dollarama distribution centers, this factory is the only one that Kraft Heinz owns in Canada. It therefore supplies the entire country with a large number of foods (Velveeta, Tassimo coffee, Miracle Whip, Renée’s salad dressings) that are found in “96 or 97% of homes”. However, the decision center is located in downtown Toronto, which undoubtedly explains the absence of specific marketing for Quebec, despite its specificity.

Simon Laroche is well aware that other companies adapt their message, their tone, their humor. “We don’t do it. I asked my team where our strategy for Quebec is. We don’t have any. We are working on this. » He even challenged his teams to create an ad specifically for the next Bye, he told me. Now that it’s public, failure would be embarrassing!

While going from one production line to another, Simon Laroche also told me that he had studied at HEC Montréal with the aim of becoming an investment banker. But love led him to spend a summer in Quebec, where he accepted a summer job with Labatt. This experience completely changed his career plan.

He appreciated the company culture so much that he stayed there and rose through the ranks to vice-president of sales. About fifteen years later, in 2018, he jumped on the plane, heading to Australia. His career at Kraft Heinz was beginning.

Obviously, Simon Laroche loves the world. He has great interpersonal skills. He likes to tell stories. Besides, what does he remember from his years in Oceania? The important place of indigenous people and their language in the daily life of New Zealanders, in the Kraft Heinz factories. Cultural differences between Australians and Kiwis.

Thanks to his experience in beer, an industry where there are “so many regional differences in tastes,” Simon Laroche understands the importance of adaptation. His years in Alberta and his lover from the United States also undoubtedly contribute to this awareness, to his interest in others. In Japan, this background paid off.

During a visit to a grocery store with a Kraft Heinz staff interpreter, the executive took the opportunity to try to understand the anemic popularity of Heinz ketchup in this country. His company only holds 5% of the market share there, a unique case in the world.

It turns out that the interpreter is not a fan. “You work for us and you don’t buy our ketchup?” For what ? » The manager then understands that the Japanese do not dip anything in ketchup, not even their fries at McDonald’s. They use it as an ingredient in very popular egg and rice dishes that mothers cook for their children. However, the Heinz brand does not have the right consistency or taste suitable for these recipes.

“There, I was like…wow! It’s really interesting ! We did research and focus groups. » A year later, Heinz launched a Japanese ketchup for cooking, sold in a pouch. “We have more than doubled our market share in one year. Four years later, we have almost 15% market share in ketchup. »

This anecdote perfectly illustrates the complexity of the agri-food world and what makes this industry so exciting. Tastes and needs change, they differ from one region to another, we have to adapt to them, we always have to innovate.

In mid-March, Fast Company’s revealed its list of the world’s most innovative companies. Kraft Heinz occupies 26^e rank.

Simon Laroche comes alive when I tell him about the new microwaveable grilled cheeses that his company launched in the United States last fall. Innovative packaging allows the bread to be crispy. It works wonderfully, he swears. “I tasted it!” The technology is surprising. Sometimes we see this kind of stuff, then we wonder if it’s a joke that really works. Yes, it’s really impressive to see the crispiness. »

The success is such – especially in Walmart – that these cheese sandwiches, ready in just a minute, will “very probably” cross the border and land in our supermarkets in 2025 or 2026.

It remains to be seen what the reception will be in Canada and Quebec for such a product which arouses suspicion and videos on social networks. Home runs like the palm oil-free chocolate and hazelnut spread, launched in 2020, are rare.

“Nutella, there is nowhere else on the planet where they have been challenged in their core business like that. This is truly something unique that the team here manages to do. It’s an incredible hit. We had up to 30% market share in certain supermarket chains. There, we have 20% market share in the country. »

The idea to face Nutella came from the Canadian team. The product is also not offered elsewhere in the world. “It really was one of our company’s greatest successes internationally in terms of launching an innovation. »

The spread is not prepared in Mount Royal, but by an Ontario subcontractor.

The ketchup is cooked a stone’s throw from the future Royalmount, and Kraft Heinz insists that it be known.

We understand them, after the storm caused by the closure of the Ontario factory in 2014, and the very unwelcome transfer of production to California. The decision benefited rival French’s, made in Canada with local tomatoes. It is not for nothing that 20 million were invested in the Mont-Royal factory to repatriate the production of the condiment there. The tomatoes currently come from Ontario, but in partnership with the UPA, Kraft Heinz is looking for a way to get their supplies from Quebec.

The multinational also wants to increase its sales in Canada, which happens to be one of its six highest potential markets in the world thanks to the sustained growth of its population and its proximity to the United States. “Canada is important. We are going to invest, we have ambitions,” insists Simon Laroche. And we can bet that, thanks to him, Quebec will have a special place in the strategy of the American giant.