History
Winter 2005: Mathieu Gallant and David Côté meet in Hawaii.
September 25, 2007: Activities begin in a commercial loft at 5333 Casgrain. At the beginning, only Mathieu Gallant and David Côté are involved and offered bicycle delivery of their products to companies.
January 2008: First living foods course. This one-day course is an introduction to the philosophy and the basic techniques of living foods.
April 2008: Crudessence wins the Certificat d'Excellence at the “Quebec Entrepreneurship Contest”.
April 2008: Crudessence receives a bursary from the “Jeunes Promoteurs” program.
May 2008: Crudessence receives a bursary from “La fondation du maire de Montréal”.
May 2008: Juice bar opens at 105 Rachel Street West. At first, the bar serves only smoothies and juices in addition to ready-to-eat dishes for take out.
September 2008: Daniel Pinard invites Mathieu Gallant and David Côté to appear on his show “Du Coeur au Ventre” on Radio Canada. The show introduced Crudessence to a large number of people.
June 16, 2008: Crudessence appears on the front page of the business section of the “Montreal Gazette”.
May 2009: Re-opening of the juice bar after renovations and extension. It becomes a 22-seat restaurant and boutique.
September 2009: The central kitchen moves to a new location, expending from 1,000 to 2,500 square feet. This same location now combines the kitchen, the offices and the 3,000 square feet Kombucha brewery.
February 2010: New chef Barry Pall joins the team.
March 2010: Formal creation of the Academy of Living Foods.
April 25, 2010: First cooking course offered outside of Montreal (in Quebec City), following which courses offered in Ottawa, Gatineau, Trois-Rivières and Saint-Hilaire.
May 2010: Hockey player and proud vegan Georges Laraque invests in Crudessence and becomes its official Ambassador.
June 2010: Opening of a juice bar on Laurier Street on the premises of natural food grocery “C'est La Vie”.
July 30, 2010: Crudessence is partner at the“Scène Verte” at the Osheaga Festival.
August 2010: Opening of the new restaurant downtown on Mackay Street.
September 2010: Launch of the Crudessence online boutique.
Future Plans:
- Launch of the Crudessence recipe book
- Opening of new juice bars and/or restaurants in Montreal area
- Expansion of the Academy into outlying regions
- Development into the corporate world with workshops and food services
- Start of health retreats in Quebec and beyond
- Continued development of the network of partners and resources