The Lost Code

Biscuits Leclerc—A True Success Story

Cookie Dispenser

First half of the 20th century
H. 24 cm
W. & L. 23 cm
For many years, cookies were sold in bulk. Only deluxe cookies were sold in tins. Over the course of the 20th century, bulk cookies were gradually replaced by paper and cardboard packages to keep the cookies fresh and in one piece.
Musée L'Aventure Leclerc Collection

Leclerc Factory

Musée L'Aventure Leclerc

Leclerc Factory in 1931

Musée L'Aventure Leclerc

Leclerc Factory in 1931

Musée L'Aventure Leclerc

François Leclerc diversified his company's production very early. He sold cookies in decorated tins and supplied general stores with dispenser boxes so people could buy cookies individually. In 1920 he bought his first delivery trucks and expanded his territory into the Chaudière-Appalaches, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Gaspé, and North Shore regions. In 1931, a fire destroyed the Arago Street building. A new factory with an assembly line was built in a three-story building on Saint Vallier Street.

Today, Biscuits Leclerc has five ultra-modern plants in North America and specializes in cookies, wafers, snack bars, breakfast cereals, crackers, and pretzels. It has the largest agrifood warehouse in Canada. The company, which is the most highly robotized undertaking in the Québec agrifood sector, employs over 500 people and distributes its products to some 20 countries on four continents. It brings in $125 million in sales annually.