Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Nov. 3, 2018
A new business is preparing to open in Shawville before the new year, and to generate interest and feedback from potential customers, an open doors event was held on Saturday.
Running from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., guests to the Abattoir les Viandes du Pontiac could receive a tour, learn the ins and outs of all their processes and ask questions directly to the owners and employees of the business, ahead of the official opening in December.
“We’re already getting feedback from farmers in the area,” said Alain Lauzon, vice president, livestock director, and one of the founders. “We know it’s not going to be perfect when it opens, it may need some oil on the chain, but we’ll get it fixed.”
Despite this realistic outlook at the abattoir’s opening, Lauzon said the group is excited to see the project come to fruition, and confident they’re meeting farmers’ and the province’s expectations when it comes to fulfilling their requirements, from safety and comfort through to modern technology and practices.

Lauzon laughed as he said many of their previous visitors, whether it be industry experts from other slaughterhouses or officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ), had come expecting their building to be an old barn. Instead, they’re greeted with a brand-new facility, built from the ground up as an abattoir.
“We’re anxious to show that we haven’t cut any corners, we’re in 2018,” said Lauzon.
Sofiane El Ketroussi, the abattoir’s president and agronomist, provided a further breakdown of what this means, in terms of technology and practices at work in the building.
El Ketroussi said they’ve worked with Industries Riopel to acquire the latest equipment for the abattoir, choosing a variety that will allow them to expand their services with ease in the future. At the moment, their operation size caters to selling meat within the province.
As well, he said their refrigeration system is designed to provide the freshest meat, by ensuring the moisture in the meat doesn’t escape. All the temperatures can be managed through the owners’ phones, so that they can monitor if there are any issues in the coolers.
“When it’s cooling down, I’ll have measurements on the meat,” said El Ketroussi. “I have a lot of measurements around the meat and I can adjust whatever I want from my iPhone.”
He also detailed their extensive system in order to prevent cross-contamination in the meats, and within the building. He said that while a worker may be suited fully up in one room, to enter the next, they will have to be completely changed into a fresh apron and other clothes, sanitize their hands, plus use newly sterilized equipment and tools.
El Ketroussi said his experience in federal abattoirs has allowed him to develop the strictest practices in preventing safety measures, citing his strict rules.
He also broke down how the abattoir uses ozone as a natural sanitizer in place of chemicals. He said the use of ozone targets every possible contamination in the meat, breaking bacteria apart from the inside out. For comparison, he detailed that chlorine fights bacteria by latching onto it and smothering it.
“There is no residue of bacteria when put through the ozone,” he said. “So the guy who will clean his knife with the ozonated water will have his knife … as clean as ever.”
He further explained that this ozone only has a life of 30 minutes, meaning there is a constant need to replenish the sanitizing substance, but that there’s no leftover chemicals to deal with, as it’s become pure oxygen.
“We’re going to be able to put on our labels that there are no chemicals on our meats,” he said.
Of course, none of this would matter if the animals to be slaughtered were not cared for, something the president assured was of high priority.
“We have put in place a system so that the animal is well taken care of,” said El Ketroussi.
Citing his background as an agronomist, and experience in working with federal abattoirs for 20 years, he said it’s important they keep the animals calm, to provide the best meat.
“If an animal is stressed, the pH of the meat is going down,” he explained. “If the pH of the meat goes down, the meat will be like wood, it won’t refrigerate properly and when we cut, we’ll have a lot of loss.”
Finally, El Ketroussi detailed how the abattoir will handle waste and smells, two big issues for neighbours to the business.
He said that in terms of smells, the building has been designed to blow any air away from town, but not before the smells have been taken care of.
El Ketroussi explained that traditionally, refrigeration systems are stored at the top of a building, on the outside. At the abattoir, the system is built inside, and uses the hot air run-off from the cooling to kill off the bacteria, before the air is released from the building.
“This hot air will kill the smell, before getting out [of the building],” he said.
“All our systems that we have brought here are just copying nature,” he added.
Once released, they’re depending on dominant winds to direct the air away from residences.
As well, any water that will exit the building will be treated with the appropriate enzymes to break down fats and residue before it enters the wastewater treatment facility.
“I’m feeling very proud about what we’re doing,” he said.
November is dedicated entirely to employee training, to ensure the crew knows all the standards, procedures and rules that the abattoir abides by.
The first slaughtering will take place on Nov. 21, but will be purely for training purposes, complete with a vet from MAPAQ onsite.
In December, the abattoir is expected to open to local farmers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with the potential for a third killing day possible in the future.