BACKGROUND

The Thériault brothers, i.e. Gaston, Jean-Eudes and Rosaire, are the pioneers in the production of distilled water in Edmundston and in northwestern New Brunswick. In 1990, a salesman from Quebec succeeded in convincing the three brothers to implement the idea of making distilled water and having self-serve facilities at their grocery store Marché Donat Thériault Ltée.

A few months later, out of concern for cleanliness of the containers returned by clients, and seeing the market opportunities, the Thériault brothers decided to invest in bigger facilities for producing distilled water, which coincided with the demise of a major natural spring water distribution company in the region.

From the very beginning, the Thériault brothers found their fateful trademark , which is a play on words as the "ault" is a homonym for the french word eau which means water. Two years later in 1992, given the increasing demand and the ever higher sales figures, the Thériault brothers decided to establish an entirely new company independent from the grocery store to allow for development and as always to provide better service to its clientele. The trademark clearly identifies the provenance of the distilled water produced by Anne-Marie Gestion Inc.

The distillation process consists in boiling water by using modern equipment and collecting the water vapor. The water vapor is then condensed into pure water. This water does not contain any minerals nor any pollution substances.

In the last few years, the industry of distilled water bottled for human mass consumption has grown tremendously, and, thanks to distilled water, Anne-Marie Gestion Inc. has known how to position itself and occupy the very first place in the greater region of both Madawaska and Victoria counties, thus becoming the major producer of distilled water in New Brunswick.

In the beginning, daily production capacity was 2,000 liters. Less than six months later, daily production had to be doubled at 4,000 liters. Given the ever increasing demand, daily production in 1992 went to 6,000 liters. In 1998, daily production reached 12,000 liters.

In 1990, the plant had been set up in an annex to the family grocery store on Power road in Edmundston, New Brunswick. In 1999, Anne-Marie Gestion Inc. acquired the land and building of the old Lajoie Ltée bakery on Victoria street in Edmundston.

This involved not only moving but also modernizing the production facilities as well as opening a new distribution center that includes a large warehouse and on-site store selling many products and accessories related to the consumption of drinking water.