The owners of Transbroue will shortly reveal the results of an accounting report linked to the conflict between them and several ex-employees who are demanding unpaid sums.
“We really thought we would be able to turn around Transbroue,” says Joannie Couture, general manager of the Triani Group. We believed in it perhaps a little too long. »
Transbroue became part of the Triani Group last year. In an interview with La Presse on Friday afternoon, Joannie Couture reiterated that Transbroue was already in financial difficulty when her company acquired it in 2022, with the Glutenberg Group.
However, the situation was worse than that analyzed at the time of the acquisition, explains Ms. Couture. Transbroue already had debts to microbreweries, specifies the entrepreneur – information confirmed by some of the players in the sector.
Added to this situation is a post-pandemic context which has weakened the Quebec brewing sector: retailers of microbrewery products are closing or changing brands, microbreweries are ceasing their activities and others are expected to with the key under the door, sales of certain products are in decline.
This slowdown affects the entire market, even non-alcoholic drinks, says Joannie Couture, who specifies that this has contributed to Transbroue’s drift. “We have to admit that despite our investments – we added a truck to cover a larger territory, we increased our sales force from 8 to 14 representatives to provide better service to microbreweries – we are facing the ‘failure of our business strategy,’ she says.
The company has entrusted an accounting firm with the mandate to support them in this restructuring – Transbroue has already announced that it is ending its representation and sales activities to concentrate on distribution.
Is bankruptcy being considered?
The general director of Triani responds that it has not been in the discussions until now, that the accounting firm has all the figures in hand. We should know his recommendations and be clear on the fate of Transbroue at the beginning of next week.
Some employees did not wait for this announcement to jump ship, sometimes with a bang. Six former business partners filed a joint lawsuit last summer against Transbroue – including the microbrewery À l’abri de la Tempête in Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Chouape in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
Since then, Transbroue has lost other partners: in November, it was the turn of the Alchimiste microbrewery from Joliette to slam the door, accusing its former distributor of owing it considerable sums.
In a completely different matter, the Triani Group is in dispute with the City of Terrebonne, where its factory is located.
The municipality orders it to stop contravening municipal regulations for the management of its wastewater.
This time, it is Triani’s alcohol production activities that are in question. The company discharges non-compliant wastewater into the municipal sewer system. The levels of three contaminants are not compliant, according to documents filed in Superior Court.
“Since April 2021, the City has given Triani four findings which led to guilty verdicts for the following reasons: non-compliant discharges, failure to characterize the effluent and obstruction of the work of a civil servant (refusal to provide a document) . The company paid the total amount of these four findings, i.e. $5,224,” explained Marie Eve Courchesne, communications advisor for the City.
Fourteen other tickets totaling $125,600 were also issued for repeat offenses for the same offenses, added the spokesperson for the City of Terrebonne.
Joannie Couture explains that significant investments were made to correct this situation, as soon as the problem was reported. Efforts are continuing, says the entrepreneur, and a plan to reduce waste at source is being considered.
“In the brewing sector, beer brewing activities generate organic matter releases. We’re talking about spent grain, grains and brewer’s yeast,” explains Joannie Couture, who affirms that the volume produced by Triani worked to their disadvantage.
Triani deplores the intransigence of the City, “which continues to issue violation notices in order to put pressure on Triani to comply immediately.”
If reports of offenses are indeed regular for contaminants exceeding the permitted limit, this is the first time that Terrebonne must initiate procedures for an introductory application for an injunction before the Court.
