Pierre-Olivier Gendron (World Studies, 2015) is the Co-Founder & CEO at The Pretty Ugly Company, a company created to fight food waste by producing products out of produce that would otherwise go to waste.

The Pretty Ugly Company started as a dream shared by Gendron and his partner Lysanne Bourret, who met at Bishop’s University and bonded over working in the restaurant industry. The two wanted to create a business model that would reduce the amount of wasted food and put produce from local farmers and distributors in the spotlight. The result was a line of freshmade salsas that made use of tomatoes that were destined for the trash.

“I wanted to make something that I believe in and that was good for the environment,” said Gendron.

In 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown, Gendron and Bourret has what they called a “lightbulb moment.”

“The tomato is the produce that is the most wasted in the entire world. I wanted to do something to save all the tomatoes. Something that is fun that gets people together.”

The idea for The Pretty Ugly Company was born and Gendron said they have managed to save 400, 000 pounds of veggies that could have gone to waste so far.

“We save the tomatoes at the beginning of the chain,” he explained. “We work with the farmers and the distributors and wholesaler of the tomatoes.”

Often the tomatoes are ripe and need to be used right away so they can’t sit in transit and then in a grocery store for days.

“Most of the tomatoes that we save are perfectly fine it is just a matter of time. We can save two pounds of tomatoes per jar of salsa.”

The two business partners started cooking up batches of salsa in a commercial kitchen loaned to them by a friend at no charge on Sundays and Mondays.

The operation was fueled by “only student debt and some dreams.”

“We started to produce 100 jars of salsa per day. We would sell them at Jean Talon Market. We didn’t have the money to invest in production machines and hire people right off the bat. We surrounded ourselves with people who know how to do this kind of product at the highest quality possible.”

Gendron says not only does his business stand out for its waste reduction focus, but The Pretty Ugly Company is producing the only salsa brand that uses fresh tomatoes in all of North America.

“All of the other commercial salsa that you can find on the shelf at your local grocery store uses canned tomatoes,” he said.

Whether convinced by the message behind the jar or the taste, consumers and investors were won over quickly. In 2023, Gendron and Bourret appeared on the Radio-Canada show L’oeil du dragon, a French version of the popular show Dragon’s Den.

“People like the product, people like the branding and the mission really speaks to people. When Dragon’s Den came up, it was kind of a no brainer.”

The two appeared on the show just as they were launching a new product, tortilla chips to accompany their line of salsas.

By then, their products were available in Sobeys grocery stores and they were asking the judges for a $50,000 investment. Their pitch was successful with three judges signing on and the publicity from the televised appearance provided another boost.

“We went from 200 store partners to 1,000. It’s one of the best opportunities we’ve had. It’s not every day we have half-a-million people watching you for three minutes.”

Now several years into the business, Gendron is proud of what he and his team have been able to achieve.

Gendron’s advice for current students and recent grads: “Always be curious and surround yourself with people that can push you in the right direction. Just try to have some good friends and always try to learn. If you want to go into business, you just have to throw caution out the window and just do it. Maybe you’re going to fail, but you’re going to learn so much by doing so. There is no perfect business plan. You’re never going to be ready 100%. Close your eyes and do it and you can have that mentality in everything you do.”

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