While I was an occupational therapist teaching at the University of Montreal, I received a call that—unbeknownst to me at the time—would completely change my life and career. My aunt, suffering from fulminating breast cancer, asked me to provide palliative care at home with her. While teleworking suddenly became the norm in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2014 it didn't exist! After several steps with the university, I still managed to juggle my schedule to be with my aunt in the last weeks of her life.

What do you talk about with someone who is waiting to die?

Honestly, it's a pretty unique situation. Among the many discussions we've had, one particularly struck me: the impact of household products on human health. My aunt then told me that there's a lack of clarity in the rules governing this sector, which means that companies use words to appeal to our environmental conscience without really ensuring that the product lives up to its marketing promise.

I had spent my life doing scientific research, but I had never read the labels on the household products I used at home. Ironic, right? That's when I started investigating all the household products in my house and... getting paranoid. It's pretty incredible how much we poison ourselves in our homes without knowing it... It's invisible, it smells good, and we're satisfied, even if it pollutes the air we breathe. So, I wanted to change my consumption habits, but I couldn't find any truly natural and ecological household products.

So, at our kitchen island, my mother and I decided to reinvent the way we clean. One Saturday morning, coffee in hand, we set off to the Montreal Botanical Gardens to take a course on making homemade cleaning products. It was the beginning of a long adventure constantly driven by the deep conviction that our family's story should serve to raise awareness.

When I say it all started on our kitchen island, it really did…there was more product on the kitchen counters than in our bottles!

Passing on my aunt's legacy

My mother and I founded Planette in 2015, a year after my aunt's death, with the ambition of passing on to society the awareness that my aunt had left us as a legacy.

So here we are today celebrating our 10th anniversary! (10 years is a long time! My daughter who was in a baby carrier while I was breastfeeding her is now a pre-teen with attitude! 😝 ) Ten wonderful years that our family business has been supporting you in your cleaning routines.

We started with two people in our basement, then grew to four in a commercial space, and now six in an industrial space. Beyond this expansion, several things have remained unchanged, starting with our commitment to helping you clean your home efficiently with safe products.

All the steps our SME has gone through over the past decade have only strengthened our dream of being part of as many households as possible!

A wind of change

Noting that the pandemic has changed consumer habits and that the economic context is making families more aware of their spending, my mother and I have made a major decision: Completely redo our brand image and harmonize our prices, which involves a 40% reduction for certain products such as scouring cream.

With our entry into supermarkets thanks to the IGA Local Accelerator and the increase in our volumes, we have had the opportunity to optimize our costs and thus lower our production costs. Rather than seize the opportunity to increase our profits, we decided to share it with you, because our desire is for every Canadian home to have its Planette bottles in its decor.

Planette offers a cleaning experience without compromise! Products that are effective and leave no one indifferent, ingredients that are safe for family and pets, including Marseille soap and essential oils, and now, truly affordable prices and a chic, refined look. What more could you ask for? Someone to do your cleaning, I imagine? Alas, we still haven't found the solution. 😉

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