Montreal's new meat delivery service

Michel Bellavance admits he's a newbie to the grocery industry.

But that doesn't diminish the Quebec City entrepreneur's confidence that his new online food delivery service will be a big hit in la belle province.

"This will be a mega success, no question," said Bellavance, co-owner of La Fricote.

Launched Sept. 13, the company sells some 200 fresh and frozen mostly meat and seafood items through its bilingual website.

Orders paid for upfront with Visa or Mastercard are packaged and shipped by Viandex, a Quebec City-based meat wholesaler and La Fricote's exclusive supplier.

Orders are delivered to people's homes or offices by Canada Post between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday.

The postal service is free for orders over $75. A flat rate of $5 is charged for smaller orders.

According to Bellevance, orders began rolling in just minutes after the site went live.

"They haven't stopped yet," he said. "It's been very intense."

He added that some two dozen customers have called, emailed and posted comments on social media raving about everything from the new company's competitive prices and wide item selection to the speed of delivery and the quality of the packaging, which includes styrofoam refrigerated boxes and product-cooling ice pads.

"They are attractive and well-made," Bellavance said of the boxes, which are designed to keep food fresh for a full day.

The company's website notably warns customers of the need to receive orders and put them into fridges or freezers quickly.

"Canada Post will leave a note on your door indicating what branch your package is being kept at," reads La Fricote's website. "Please remember that post offices are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. If you pick up your order on Monday, we no longer guarantee the freshness of the food inside the box."

A co-founder of a Quebec-wide chain of children's clothing stores (called Souris Mini) who developed an online sales division that generated more revenues than the 30 brick-and-mortar stores, Bellavance says La Fricote is aimed at busy families like his that are both Internet-savvy and don't have time to shop for meat and seafood.

"I love shopping for stuff online with my kids," said Bellevance, who last year bought a popular Quebec City catering company and deli counter called Nourcy. "It makes things fast, fun and easy.  So I thought, 'Why not with food, too?'"

He said he and his two web-expert partners in La Fricote—Charles Guimont and Sacha Declomesnil—developed a high-performance site.

"We put a lot of time, energy and money to make a Cadillac for transactions," said Bellevance. "Reaction is so strong that we're already talking about adding more items and other things, like prepared foods."

According to one of the three owners of Viandex, the new online service is a novel and fun idea that integrates perfectly into the meat wholesaler's operations.

"Orders go directly into our system, so there's no muss or fuss," said Pierre-Benôit Lessard, who is a friend of Bellavance and his partners. "Canada Post comes and picks up the orders at night, and delivers them the next day."

Lessard said Viandex, which sells and delivers about $75 million worth of food each year to some 1,200 restaurants and other clients across Quebec with its fleet of ten trucks and Montreal-area warehouse, has filled about 100 orders so far through La Fricote, including test orders.

"So far so good," he said.  "We expect (La Fricote) will do really because online food sales are really in now."