3.1.3. The Marketing of Products

Since its inception, an increasing variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs have been produced by Le Grenier boréal, although the challenges remain significant. The cooperative has also had to adapt its production techniques. For example, it has installed plastic tunnels and greenhouses to extend the season, introduced winter covers to protect crops from the cold, chosen varieties adapted to the climate, made increasing use of local resources to fertilize the soil and planted willow hedges to protect the gardens from the wind [25]. Initially, its production was exclusively marketed through weekly baskets, the number of which grew from 10 baskets to 35 baskets between 2016 and 2017. In 2017, the cooperative successfully inaugurated a U-pick strawberry farm [42]. Since 2018, Le Grenier boréal has provided food to be sold at the Havre-Saint-Pierre grocery store [43] and, as of 2019, has supplied ingredients to the Puyjalon distillery in Havre-Saint-Pierre, to produce gin [44]. Although the 2020 season was complicated by pandemic-related delays in the construction of a greenhouse and the arrival of student interns, as well as redevelopment that took some acreage out of production, the harvest was very good. Le Grenier boréal also managed to set up a food stand in the villages of Minganie. Finally, market garden production is expected to increase over the next few years due to the cultivation of areas that had not been used prior to 2020 and the completion of the greenhouse [45].
