Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Viau Biscuits
Parallel form(s) of name
- Viau
- Biscuits Viau
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1867-2004
History
1867: Charles Théodore Viau sets up a bakery on rue Sainte-Marie (now Notre Dame) in Montreal, Quebec. The business makes bread and biscuits, including Village biscuits, which exist to this day in the Dare Traditions line.
1900-1901: Théophile Viau, son of the founder, created the first chocolate-coated mallow cookie, "Empire," the precursor of the Whippet, a top-selling Dare brand today.
1906: The planned construction of a new Canadian Pacific rail line forces the expropriation of the Viau factory in downtown Montreal, Quebec.
1907: Opening of a new factory constructed on 1st Ave., now Viau St., just north of Ontario St., in a new suburban area which became known as "Viauville."
1926: Viau listed on the Montreal Stock Exchange, being only the second French-Canadian institution to be admitted, after la Banque Canadienne Nationale.
1927: Whippet launched (named after a popular new Willys-Overland car called Whippet).
1952: $2 million project to almost double the factory, convert the heating plant to oil and add a new administrative building on Ontario St. opposite the plant.
1969: Viau is acquired by Grissol Food Limited (Yves Hudon).
1972: Grissol, including Viau, is acquired by Imasco Foods Limited, the food arm of Imperial Tobacco company.
1983: Imasco Foods, including Viau, is acquired by Culinar.
1999: Montreal cheese company Saputo Inc. buys Culinar, made up of the Vachon snack cakes business and CFS (Cookies, Fine Breads and Soups).
2001: Dare Foods Limited buys Culinar CFS (Cookies, Fine Breads and Soups) from Saputo Inc. Culinar is dissolved.
2003: St. Lambert (formerly Culinar's Lido) cookie plant expanded to accommodate production transferred from former Viau plant in Montreal, Quebec.
2004: Former Viau cookie plant at Viau and Ontario Streets in east-end Montreal closed and sold to a developer for re-purposing as "La Biscuiterie" residential condos.
2004: Dare sells the Loney's soups business to Produits Alimentaires Berthelet of Montreal.
Places
Viau was headquartered in Montreal, Quebec.
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Biscuit manufacturer.
Mandates/sources of authority
Internal structures/genealogy
General context
Relationships area
Access points area
Subject access points
Place access points
Occupations
Control area
Authority record identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created by NM in March 2019.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
The history of Viau and its relationship to Dare Foods Limited was ascertained from a memorandum written by Bryan Dare to the University of Waterloo. Special Collections & Archives, the majority of which has been copied into the history note of this authority record. A physical copy of the memorandum can be found in SCA188-GA420-5-75