In the 1980s, a new trend took hold in Quebec’s business community: diversification. Companies started making acquisitions in sectors far afield of their core business. There were some very unlikely marriages, such as a major grocery store chain running a sporting goods store. But business management is business management, right? And the banks strongly encouraged the trend.

In its own way, Lassonde went with the flow. It bought up small companies operating in related fields or in its own areas of expertise, such as the purchase of Produits Ronald, the new subsidiary now devoted to canning corn on the cob. Lassonde’s organizational chart soon expanded again, with three more acquisitions: Vac-O-Nut, BHR Bakers Specialties and Mixofruit.

BHR Bakers Specialties produced fruit desserts for industrial and institutional markets. The venture was not a convincing success, however. Nor was Mixofruit, which supplied high-end restaurants, hotels and bakeries with fruit purées, toppings and other desserts. These two subsidiaries were sold just a few years later. But Vac-O-Nut, which specialized in dried fruit and nuts, was another story.

As an alliance of companies producing healthy foods, that union looked like it would prove, well, fruitful, and could contribute to strengthening Lassonde’s corporate image. But Vac-O-Nut lost money. So Lassonde’s senior management assigned the task of turning the situation around to Jean Gattuso, who had recently joined the team. The gamble paid off – at the price of considerable blood, sweat and tears. But the cost-benefit analysis left its fate in doubt.

In the end, Vac-O-Nut too was resold in the early 1990s. And Lassonde returned to what it knew and did best.

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