In 1983, one of Alban’s daughters returned from a
trip to New Orleans with a bag of instant Beignet
mix, a French Acadian doughnut. This started
Alban’s wife Rita and the rest of the family thinking
about their buckwheat harvest and their
traditional Acadian flatbread known as
Ployes. If beignets can come in a premix
why hasn’t anyone thought of a premix for
Ployes. Thus the seed was planted and the
marketing began. Rita and her daughter
Jane worked to develop a foolproof instant
mix for their local markets. When they
were at last successful, they packaged,
labeled and delivered the mix to local
grocery stores and restaurants in Fort Kent
and surrounding areas. They brought
the mix to trade and food shows and
cooked samples to offer show attendees.
Now with Internet sales that crisscross
the globe, they have access to providing
Ployes and buckwheat flour to a much
larger clientele. The Ployes will probably
be credited in helping to keep the family
farm together, hopefully for the next
generations of Bouchard’s to follow.
naturally raised beef from their own cattle as well as
natural pork, local farm fresh eggs and produce from
area farmers, crafts from many members of Made in
Aroostook, Inc. as well as animal feeds and animal care
products. In the early fall, brightly colored
pumpkins, designed and painted by Janice
herself, decorate the yard around the store,
produce is abundant, and the customers
leave knowing they are supporting a multigenerational farm that has a will to survive.
To learn more about their farm and products visit
them at www.ployes.com.
Now over 30 years later, they’ve expanded
their line to include not only the traditional
Ploye mix, but also the whole wheat variety
and their certified gluten free buckwheat
flour.
Last year Joseph and his wife Janice have
added a Country Store to their list of
accomplishments. They’ve proved that
Alban was right in choosing to diversify. The Bouchard
Country Store has a very strong following and their
products are almost all locally sourced. They offer
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