Isabelle Huot is the founder of the brand Isabelle Huot Docteure en nutrition and has been working with GS1 Canada since 2013. We interviewed Isabelle, along with her Operations Manager, Amélie Robert, earlier this year to see how GS1 global standards and GS1 Canada’s solutions have helped her take her business to the next level.
Isabelle Huot is on a mission to help Quebecers eat and live better. In 2011, she founded Kilo Solution, a health-focused brand that delivers nutritious, ready-to-eat meals right to people’s doorsteps. Isabelle quickly saw success with Kilo Solution, and in 2013 she founded Isabelle Huot Docteure en nutrition and expanded her line of product offerings to include premium healthy snacks, fruit spreads, cereals and more. To increase sales and brand visibility, Isabelle knew she had to get her products on grocery store shelves - and to do that, her products needed standardized barcodes.
Prior to working with GS1 Canada, Isabelle was not familiar with the process of obtaining barcodes. Getting Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) for her products, navigating the world of barcodes, making sense of trading partner licensing requirements – it was all new to Isabelle and her team. In fact, in the beginning of her engagement with GS1 Canada, her product data was uploaded to GS1 Canada’s ECCnet Registry directly by the manufacturer, who managed Isabelle’s product data on her behalf. Then, in 2017, Isabelle took matters into her own hands and Isabelle Huot Docteure en nutrition officially became a GS1 Canada subscriber. This change allowed Isabelle to gain better control of the operational side of her business by managing her company’s product information in-house, which in turn helped her brand reputation.
Working with GS1 Canada has been beneficial for the company in multiple ways. According to Isabelle, having a GS1 Company Prefix and GS1 GTINs on her products serves as a sign to trading partners that Isabelle Huot Docteure en nutrition is a reputable business who can meet the needs of trading partners big and small. This has helped Isabelle land major accounts, such as Costco, Loblaw and Metro, and expand the scope of her company. And since GS1 Canada’s tools and solutions are driven by industry, Isabelle has peace of mind that her products meet her trading partner’s requirements.
As a brand owner, working with the right manufacturers and business partners is critical, and having partners who can fulfill her product’s nutritional requirements is a point that Isabelle, who holds a PhD in nutrition, simply cannot compromise on. With her product information safely stored in GS1 Canada’s product registry, Isabelle can easily share her product data seamlessly with existing and new trading partners from one central location.
Isabelle Huot Docteure en nutrition is a small business that has already achieved big success across Quebec – so what’s next? Isabelle has her sights set on expanding her brand across the country, bringing her health conscious message to all Canadians and adding 1,500 point-of-sale locations from coast to coast.
Isabelle’s high-quality products, coupled with Isabelle and her team’s strong work ethic, are a winning formula. With a little help from GS1 Canada’s standards and solutions, Isabelle Huot is well on her way to conquering her goals and taking Canada by storm.