Why this historic Quebec cheese brand is being sold to a French company

The Quebec cheese brand OKA, with a history spanning more than 130 years in the province, is being sold to the French group Lactalis, one of the world’s largest players in the cheese industry.

Agropur, the Quebec co-operative that owned OKA until recently, is selling its fine cheese division.

According to Lactalis Canada’s news release, it will acquire two production facilities in Oka and Sainte-Hyacinthe, Que., and add around 400 employees to its 4,500 team across the country.

“We are committed to preserving the authenticity and quality of these award-winning brands,” Lactalis Group chairman Emmanuel Besnier wrote.

“This extends to being an active member of the Oka and Sainte-Hyacinthe communities… and contributing meaningfully to the people and places that have shaped these beloved brands.”

Guillaume Bérubé, director of communications at Agropur, explained that though it wasn’t an “easy decision,” it was a “well-thought-out” one.

“We fully understand that this morning’s news might provoke some reactions, particularly regarding OKA cheese,” Bérubé said on Radio-Canada’s Tout un matin.

WATCH | What’s behind the sale of the iconic brand:

Quebec sells iconic Oka cheese to French dairy giant

The cheese co-operative Agropur is selling its fine cheese division, which generates about $200 million a year, to the French dairy giant Lactalis. The Quebec company says it wants to focus on other operations, including milk and butter production.

But Bérubé said employees will keep their jobs. He also pointed out that Lactalis is well established in Canada and has strong expertise in the field of fine cheeses.

He added that the fine cheese market has become “very competitive” and that Agropur’s goal is to strengthen its competitiveness.

Bérubé noted that a shift toward proteins is underway in the industry and that the co-operative wishes to concentrate its efforts in this sector.

According to him, fine cheese production only accounted for two per cent of revenue and two per cent of the milk Agropur processed.

Workers ‘kind of happy’ about move

Created in 1893 by Brother Alphonse Juin, a French master cheesemaker who settled in a Trappist community in Oka, Que., OKA cheese played a major role in ensuring the survival of the financially struggling monks in this area, according to Histoire Québec and Fromages d’ici.

The cheese became an award-winning, semi-firm culinary staple famous for its fruity flavour and medium intensity. Its recipe was sold to Agropur in 1981.

Roxane Larouche, spokesperson for TUAC Quebec — the union representing the workers — said though the move came as a surprise, people are “kind of happy about it because Lactalis is known as a good company.”

“There’s a sentiment of security about it… They didn’t announce any cuts,” she said.

“So far, there’s no alarm yet about this. We just need to learn how the new owner will be with the employees.”

The only potential challenge she foresees is that employees at the Saint-Hubert distribution centre — which, she says, Agropur wants to keep in order to distribute its other products — may have to relocate once Lactalis has found a new facility.

Gilles Jourdenais, a cheesemonger at Fromagerie Atwater, believes the cheese has lost some of its lustre and that, while the sale is unfortunate, this decision could help give OKA cheese a boost.

“I think Lactalis will bring a new energy and maybe a new marketing,” Jourdenais said.

The sale still needs clearance from Canada’s competition bureau before it can be finalized.

This isn’t the first time that Lactalis has acquired a Quebec product from Agropur. In 2020, Lactalis Canada acquired the Iögo yogurt brand.