A new jam made entirely from small fruits from the Île d’Orléans will officially make its debut on the shelves of IGAs in Quebec starting this Saturday.
This is a first, says Vincent Paris, president of the Tigidou jam factory in St-Laurent de l’Île d’Orléans, who created La confiture des Bonnes Sœurs in collaboration with the farm Les Fraises de l’Île d’Orléans. ‘Orleans.
There are a total of three new jam products (wild strawberries, raspberries-strawberries and raspberries-strawberries-blackberries) made entirely from Orléans berries and will be available at all IGA markets in the province.
“Over time there have been many attempts locally to offer Île d’Orléans fruit jams in local supermarkets, but 100% Île d’Orléans fruit products have never been available. The parent company, Sobeys, has offered them to supermarkets across Quebec,” says Vincent Paris.
This jam, whose name commemorates the historical role of nuns in Quebec’s culinary heritage, will fill a gap in the Quebec market, the businessman believes.
“There are still too few jams made exclusively from Quebec fruit, there are some, but the vast majority come from very far away. At the moment we do not control the quality, the environment or the agricultural conditions,” he specifies.
“It is a great achievement and a source of great pride for Orléans to be able to offer a product of this quality throughout Quebec,” adds the jam master.
Protect the name
The latter explains that the main motivation for this project is to protect the use of the term “Île d’Orléans”, since there is no official certification.
“For several years we have noticed that there are competitors who falsely use the name “strawberries from Île d’Orléans” to sell them in kiosks or small local grocery stores,” he says.
However, he was unable to produce Tigidou jam throughout Quebec because it is made by hand in a cauldron.
André Gosselin, owner of the farm Les Fraises de l’Île d’Orléans, and he have therefore teamed up to market a brand new product that they believe will protect the use of this term.