Brownstein: Mustard-maker's products flooded the street when Montreal's water-main geyser erupted

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Most might find it odd that Julien Morin can muster a smile these days.

“At least my favourite chair survived. That’s at least something to smile about now,” quips Morin, sitting and, yes, smiling in said chair.

Little else survived when that infamous city water main cracked Aug. 16 and a monster geyser sprung up, resulting in a river running through Morin’s business — not to mention myriad other companies, homes and the CTV/RDS/Noovo studios — adjacent to the Jacques Cartier Bridge.

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Morin’s four-year-old La Morin Moutarde manufacturing/warehouse/office facility on the corner of Papineau Ave. and Notre-Dame St. was virtually wiped out by the flooding, with water levels rising about 13 feet inside his space.

More than 90 per cent of his inventory and equipment was lost. Shocking video images of thousand of jars of Morin’s specialty mustards and equipment flowing into a torrent on the street are heartbreaking to watch.

Morin estimates that his losses will be well in excess of $500,000. Insurance will only cover a small fraction, and so far he has received no municipal assistance.

“Looking at all that product flooding out our door was devastating,” Morin says. “For three days, nobody was there for a lot of us who were affected. No city or fire authorities. Nobody. And it was really dangerous, too.

“Finally, after seeing and hearing about all the destruction on TV, the mayor came and said that she would help. I asked her if I could make some mustard in city hall, but I don’t think she was too interested in that,” he says.

Morin was told not long after by city authorities that he had 24 hours to leave his ravaged premises and find new digs. Luckily, a specialty food wholesaler who had worked in the same space and distributed Morin’s line of mustards invited him to move to a warehouse space in Rosemont. Morin is now ensconced there with what few fragments of inventory and pieces of equipment that were salvaged.

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The wholesaler also took a huge hit, but he will be able to replenish his stock and get going faster. Morin will have to start from scratch, first ensuring that his vintage industrial mustard-seed grinding machine is still operational, then finding replacement equipment and building a new kitchen to create his condiments.

“Crises are nothing new to me. But with my past crisis experience, I’m hopeful I can manage this one.”

Prior to starting his mustard enterprise in 2020, Morin was laid off as an Air Transat pilot as the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on airlines around the world. (In light of his flooding woes, he is grateful to be back working part-time for the airline.)

“When I first lost my job, I took the opportunity to reinvent myself during COVID and finally follow through on a life-long passion that I got from my grandfather.”

That passion turned out to be making mustard and bringing it to market globally.

Well and good, but the global mustard market is not exactly under-served. Store shelves overflow with much-praised mustards from the U.S., U.K. and Europe, not to mention more common and affordable domestic brands.

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But Morin explains his passion simply and succinctly on his La Morin web page: “My family has been searching for the perfect mustard for generations. My grandfather always dreamed of finding THE perfect mustard, the one that tickles your nostrils and leaves you with a strong, everlasting impression. I decided to make it for him.”

And his definitely do tickle the nostrils and leave a strong impression, as anyone who has tasted the six different mustards Morin produces will attest. It began with La Morin Originale. Morin later started crafting pink peppercorn, honey, deli, beer and — mmm — scotch varieties, in addition to a dressing and a mayonnaise.

In a blind taste test, his La Morin Originale was designated Best Mustard in the World at the 2023 Great Taste Awards in the United Kingdom. With word fast getting out, the mustards became available at 1,000 outlets in Quebec as well as in shops in Ontario, the Maritimes and, most recently, in England and France.

“I first started doing this in my kitchen in the Plateau with my family. It took me six months of trial and error to come up with my original recipe,” says Morin, 38, father of two boys who lives with his longtime mate.

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“Most of the mustards available are processed. Mine are all hand-made, following a method used over 100 years ago. That’s why we get that feeling of it rising through your nose, but just to have the right balance, with the feel of the whole crunchy grain.”

Curiously, Morin credits his stint as a pilot — which had him flying off to Europe frequently — for turning him on to the array of mustards overseas.

“That’s when I learned that about 80 per cent of the mustard seeds used were coming from Canada, mostly from Saskatchewan. Then most were processed in China before coming back to Europe,” notes Morin, who is now in contact with a seed producer from Quebec.

Morin won’t reveal his secret recipe, although he allows that in addition to the seeds, it entails “simple ingredients”: water, vinegar and turmeric for colour.

But what mattered most to Morin after much experimentation was that his grandfather give his seal of approval to his condiment concoction.

“Just before he died, he tasted my early attempts and gave it his blessing. So I thought there might be an opportunity here and brought some jars to a few shops near my home. They really liked it, too.”

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Morin next caught the attention of an investor, left both captivated and sniffing by his product.

“He asked about my goal. I just said I wanted to be in every Quebec home. He liked that and became my partner.”

And Morin was on his way.

Last year, his company moved more than 100,000 bottles, bringing in about $500,000 in sales.

This year was looking brighter. Prior to the flood, La Morin had impressive sales contracts signed with Metro and Sobeys.

“We can’t afford not to deliver and not to have our products on store shelves.”

Now he must begin all over again. His inventory is down to 3,000 jars. He lost four tons of mustard seeds. After a visit from an electrician in the coming days, he will know whether the equipment he has left is operational.

“I’m hopeful that if the grinder works and if we can build a new kitchen up to required industry standards and if we can get some financial help, we could be back making mustard in the next two or three weeks,” he says, sitting on top of a newly delivered one-ton pallet of Saskatchewan mustard seeds.

But Morin is miffed by what he and so many others have had to live through and endure.

“In 2024, it’s just not normal that a vital water main like this breaks and that 140 Olympic pools of water go streaming through our streets. Many aren’t getting much from the insurance we have. So it has to start with us really digging in. Every day is a challenge for most of us.

“This will be a bigger challenge, but I’m up for it.”

bbrownstein@postmedia.com

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