Jean Coutu and Brunet announce partnership to help customers find locally-manufactured products

MONTREAL — METRO announces that it is partnering with Les Produits du Québec to make it easier to identify local non-food products in its Jean Coutu and Brunet pharmacy networks.

The Product of Québec, Manufactured in Québec and Designed in Québec certification marks will be introduced in the next few weeks in Jean Coutu and Brunet pharmacies as well as in Metro and Super C stores in Quebec. The credibility and rigor of the process are meant to be a guarantee of confidence for consumers.

“This partnership will allow us to offer customers the products they want and allow us to continue our support of local businesses while contributing to the socio-economic activity in the regions we operate,” said Josée Houle, vice-president, merchandising, Jean Coutu and Brunet.

“Our teams invest a lot of effort in supporting local suppliers and offering our customers local products. Our goal is to make finding local products easier. The rigorous identification process of Produits du Québec will allow us to guarantee customers those goods are produced, manufactured or designed in Quebec,” says Marie-Claude Bacon, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications, METRO Inc.

Les Produits du Québec is supported by the Quebec government. “Our objective is to recognize and promote Quebec products through a distinctive certification mark. Nearly 20,000 products have already obtained this designation and the list continues to grow. This partnership is another major step forward, after less than six months of activity. Together, we are making it easier to identify and purchase Quebec products in stores and online,” said Elfi Morin, General Manager, Les Produits du Québec.

This new identification is in addition to the Aliments du Québec and Aliments préparés au Québec labels already in place in Metro, Metro Plus and Super C stores in Quebec and is in the spirit of METRO’s Local Purchasing program.

In addition, in collaboration with the Conseil Québécois de la transformation alimentaire (CTAQ), Metro recently launched the Essor Québec project which aims, in addition to in-store signage, to develop a training and coaching program to support Quebec suppliers in 11 agri-food sectors in the commercialization process of their products.