Table Talk Pies to re-launch Quebec bakery

Table Talk Pies of Worcester, Mass., acquires the assets of Pâtisserie Gaudet (Acton Vale, Que.), which was previously under the management of trustee Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton after being placed under the protection of the Creditors Arrangement Act.

Gaudet was at one time a major player in the Canadian pie and tart market, but has fallen on hard times in recent years. Table Talk hopes to return the closed facility to its key position in the Canadian sweet goods industry.

“We intend to reopen the Gaudet plant to make pies for the Canadian market and we will work closely with the former employees, as well as local and provincial authorities, to try to get this plant back up and running as quickly as possible,” said Harry Kokkinis, president of Table Talk Pies.

To that end, Table Talk has retained the plant’s former general manager, Georges Berbari, to help lead the reopening efforts. Management and production will remain in Quebec, according to Berbari, who added he was speaking on behalf of the owners of Table Talk, whose three U.S. plants, with 300 employees, already produce nearly 250 million tarts and 25 million pies a year that are distributed across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

“There is no question that the Acton Vale plant’s operations will be relocated to Table Talk Pies’ three U.S. plants,” said Berbari, who is excited about strengthening Pâtisserie Gaudet’s position in Quebec and Canada by creating a strong synergy between the two companies.

To capture this synergy, a new company called Table Talk Canada was created. This will be located in Acton Vale.

“With this new company, we look forward to serving Canadian customers with pies and tarts from the Quebec plant and made to the same high-quality standards that North American customers have come to know and love,” said Kokkinis and Berbari.