Food Co-Packing: The Art of Combining Quality, Reliability and Agility

An Advent calendar needs to be ready well before December. A line of granola bars must be packaged and shipped week after week. A growing health food company needs to scale up production to fulfill new orders.
Three different realities, one common need: a production partner with the expertise to get the job done and the flexibility to adapt.

At Groupe TAQ, food co-packing relies on dedicated teams of trained, skilled workers. Their expertise supports everything from seasonal production runs to year-round partnerships integrated into a client’s operations. And behind that expertise are employees living with functional limitations, demonstrating every day that production quality and inclusion go hand in hand.

A Co-Packer That Puts Quality Work First

Entrusting your products to a co-packer means entrusting them with part of your reputation. Precision, adherence to instructions and consistent results matter just as much as production volumes.

At TAQ, workers are trained in the specific operations required for each assignment. Production supervisors oversee their work and ensure established procedures are followed. This approach builds hands-on knowledge of each client’s products, packaging formats and requirements.

That expertise grows every day through training, ongoing support and experience gained on the production floor.
Quality also depends on dedicated food packaging facilities, including clean rooms, along with processes and equipment suited to each operation. Our Quality Department ensures that good manufacturing practices and required quality controls are followed. Depending on client requirements, dedicated production lines also meet recognized standards and certifications, such as BRCGS or QAI organic certification.

Food Co-Packing: Extra Production Capacity for Seasonal Peaks

Seasonal demand creates a particular challenge: increasing production capacity for a limited period while maintaining quality standards.

Our work with Chocolats Favoris is a concrete example. Every year, our teams handle the manual filling, boxing and packaging of Advent calendars. Several operations must be carefully coordinated to meet the product’s seasonal launch schedule. While TAQ handles the agreed-upon operations, the client can focus its resources on other stages of production.

This flexibility takes planning. Defining the scope of work, understanding product requirements and organizing teams are all essential steps in delivering a successful project.

Food Production Outsourcing: A Dedicated Team, Year-Round

A partnership can also be built for the long term. In this case, TAQ becomes a dedicated outsourcing team, integrated into the client’s regular operations.

This is how we work with Biscuits Leclerc. Production lines are housed within our facilities, and specific sections of our warehouses are dedicated to their needs. Packaging and logistics come together in a single operating environment. This approach helps establish shared working routines. Teams become familiar with the operations, and the organization evolves alongside changing needs.

Food manufacturers gain reliable production capacity they can count on throughout the year.

Food Packaging and Warehousing: Thinking Beyond the Packaging Line

Once a product is packaged, it still needs to move efficiently through the supply chain. That’s why co-packing services should be considered alongside the steps that come before and after packaging: product receiving, warehousing, palletizing and shipping.

TAQ offers a wide range of services, including bagging, sealing, labelling, boxing, repackaging and product assembly, also known as mixing. Our warehousing facilities and ten loading docks complete this operational capacity.

Bringing several operations together under one roof makes coordination easier, from the moment products arrive until they are shipped out.

Food Startups: A Production Partner to Support Growth

For a food startup, securing new orders is an important milestone. The next challenge is having the capacity to fulfill them. As volumes increase, the processes that worked in the early stages may reach their limits. Companies need additional capacity and more structured operations, without compromising the quality that won over their first customers.

TAQ helps businesses make that transition to larger-scale production. Each partnership is built around real needs: the operations to outsource, packaging formats, equipment and desired production pace. Growing food companies gain a reliable, agile partner that can evolve alongside their business.

An Inclusive Workplace Where Expertise Builds Pride

Through this range of services, Groupe TAQ aims to position itself as an essential player in what could be described as the greater Québec City region’s “food hub.”

Behind this production capacity is Groupe TAQ’s social mission: providing quality jobs for people with disabilities in an adapted manufacturing environment where their skills and expertise directly contribute to our clients’ success.

“Our clients come to us for our performance, quality of work and agility. They then discover a social mission that gives our partnership a whole new meaning. Behind their products are workers with disabilities who bring tremendous expertise and take pride in contributing to their success. Employment allows them to develop their skills, independence and confidence. And that creates tangible benefits for the broader community.”
— Amélie Caron, Director of Business Development

From our teams to our clients, we share the same commitment: work done well, quality products and the pride of moving forward together.