Jean Fontaine founded Jefo in 1982
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
A Quebec-based animal nutrition company is celebrating its 35th anniversary and using the milestone to reflect on how far it has come.
Jean Fontaine founded Jefo in 1982 after visiting Europe and discovering a large cost difference between Europe and Canada on feed additives like phosphate and bicarbonate.
He began to import ingredients to give farmers another feed option and to help Canadian feed businesses remain competitive.
Since the company’s founding, Jefo has experienced a variety of growth and changes.
Fontaine started by distributing ingredients. Now his company’s products are available in 57 countries and it employs 250 people.
The company plans to hire 100 more staff before the summer. Jefo also hopes to invest $65 million within two years to modernize its facilities.
And all Jefo’s innovations are undertaken with farmers in mind.
Jefo performs research on its own research farms, implements new concepts and performs trials, all with a focus on farmers and animal health, he said.
While Fontaine looks back on the past 35 years, he’s also looking towards the future.
The United Nations estimates the global population will reach 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.
That’s a lot of mouths to feed, and feed companies like Jefo need to make sure they’re on the cutting edge of innovation to accommodate those needs, Fontaine said.