Cook it becomes the main shareholder of Quebec company Menu Extra, specialized in high-end home gastronomy

Jan 20, 2023

MONTREAL, - Cook it is proud to announce that it has acquired 70% of the shares of the gourmet ready-to-eat service Menu Extra. Cook it has led an important transformation in the food industry with its meal kit concept, just as Menu Extra has done for fine dining. With this new partnership, the company hopes to create a value-added ecosystem for the benefit of Cook it subscribers.

Menu Extra is led by renowned chefs Francis Blais and Camilo Lapointe-Nascimento, as well as Alexis Demers, sommelier and maître d'hôtel. The company offers complete gastronomic experiences with high-end ready-to-eat meals, wine, flowers and music suggestions, all delivered at home in the greater Montreal area.

This strategic alliance will allow Menu Extra to expand its production capacity and extend its area of activity in the Eastern Townships, the Laurentians and Quebec City, while benefiting from Cook it's suppliers and various business relationships. Its current customers can expect the same quality and DNA that have made the reputation of Menu Extra, since all three founders will remain at the heart of the project. For Cook it, this is an opportunity to diversify and solidify its place in the fine dining market, while expanding its offering.

"Our mission is to be the best way to eat on a daily basis; Menu Extra is there for life's big moments. This partnership allows us to be the best way to eat for all occasions and is another step towards the future of food," says Judith Fetzer, President and Co-Founder of Cook it. "Customers of both companies will benefit from this firsthand, and that's the most exciting part."

"I collaborated with Cook it through the Chef's Class project and met Judith through the Adopte Inc. mentoring program–and we hit it off instantly," says Francis Blais, Co-Founder of Menu Extra. "Young, ambitious and innovative, Cook it has always valued and promoted Quebec talent. Together, we have the power to reshape the culinary landscape."

Source : Newswire.ca

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.