STE-DOROTHEE, Quebec – Describing the farm business he built with his brother, 25-year-old Louis Marineau calls it a labor of love.
“It’s a love story. I believe in what I’m doing. I love what I’m doing … I’m so proud of what I’m doing.”
Louis and Martin Marineau, 27, received a small field five years ago from their parents to “experiment with.” They entered the dried flower business.
While most of their experience was gained from working on a fourth-generation farm with their parents, the brothers traveled to Holland to learn how to properly dry flowers. They then researched Canadian supermarkets to find out what retailers wanted.
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Since then, they’ve developed the largest dried flower business in Quebec. They sell their flowers throughout Canada and this past year began exporting to the United States.
They make about 100,000 bouquets a year, which are sold through supermarkets and drugstores. Most of the flowers are their own but they supplement their bouquets with about 10 percent of the flowers bought from outside suppliers.
The Marineaus have expanded their business beyond wholesalers. This spring they added a roofed area to host tour groups. It joined the other businesses they built two years ago – a craft shop and a museum about flowers.
“It is to explain our industry. It won’t be big money,” Louis Marineau said. However, he’s happy and proud the museum educates visitors about dried flowers.
Marineau said he is not in the business for money. He still needs to make payments at the end of the month, like a lot of other young farmers. But his lifestyle is a question of choice.
“I’m not a person who really wants to drive a Porsche or own a $300,000 house. If I did, I wouldn’t be in this business.”
Marineau said the business has been slowly growing: “At first, you have to be careful when you invest in a business. You have to believe in what you’re doing. It’s like a child … because you love your child, you’ll invest in it. You’ll invest in milk rather than beer. You will be short on money.
“But you can do anything if you really believe in your project at first, and believe in what you can do.”
Marineau believes he can expand their museum by 10 times the current size, find more American markets and attract more tour groups, especially students.
“We want people to come here and visit all day. And when they leave, they say they have had a good time. And the education part is important.”
Thirty different varieties of flowers are grown, and 300 different colors are created using hot water and natural dyes. Flowers are dried from two days to two weeks at 50 C, and in darkness to protect the colors.
The company, Fleurineau, is owned equally by the brothers. Martin handles the paperwork and production in their 50 acres of fields. Louis is in charge of marketing and employees. There are 15 permanent staff and 20 seasonal employees.
Louis worried about saturating the Canadian market, so they did two things. They concentrated on quality “so people come back”, and in the past year they developed a market with brokers in New England. “We have no choice but to go to the United States.”
This month he’s traveling to New York, Albany, New Jersey and Boston to meet with buyers of dried flowers.
Government support is helping the Marineaus search for new markets. Paul LaPlante, an industrial counsellor with Quebec’s industry and commerce department, said they qualified for technical and financial support from the provincial and federal governments.
The governments identify distributors and reimburse 50 percent of the costs to exhibit at a trade show in the U.S., up to $5,000 for Fleurineau.
LaPlante said the Marineau brothers have drive, determination and dedication. Although they are young and don’t know everything, he said there is “satisfaction in helping them. They acknowledge what we suggest and things we bring to them.”
Able to adjust
While their limited English is a barrier, LaPlante said, “they’re young enough and intelligent enough that if they don’t know English yet, they will be fluent in it the next 12 months. It won’t be a problem or slow down development.”
LaPlante said because theirs is not an extremely common product it gives them a market niche and a lot of potential.
Marineau said he and his brother continue to look for flower varieties and different cultivating techniques so they can produce more flowers on the same land base.
“We want to be recognized in the U.S. (and Canada) as one of the really good wholesale businesses. The best.”
They already are recognized for size – they have the biggest concrete planter in the world, weighing eight tonnes and measuring 5.4 metres in diameter.
Isabelle Chabot, a florist for Fleurineau, said the flower business is not seasonal, but appears busiest around holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween and St. Valentine’s Day.
“Another big time is July, because people are changing their homes. It’s a good time,” she said.
