The Coulée Walter brand is a tribute to Pierre Somers’ father Walter J. Somers.
Born in Germany, Walter J. Somers came to Canada as a young mechanical engineer after studying in Cambridge.
Walter’s entrepreneurial drive led him start J. Walter in 1952 – a company that specialized in importing industrial power tools from Germany, today known as Walter Surface Technologies. Walter grew the business to become one of the most respected companies in Canada for the metal working industry. Pierre Somers took the reins of the company in the late 1980s and scaled it internationally. After decades of investing as a parallel activity, the Somers family sold a majority stake in Walter Surface Technologies in 2018 to focus on investment, which has become today the core activity of what is now known as the Walter Group.
Walter’s dedication to leading by example, striving for excellence, and adding value in all that people do, led him to create a solid foundation which still serves as the Walter Group’s guiding principles.
Today, Pierre Somers is a strong supporter of innovation and excellence, and he continues the family legacy of adding value in society – not only as Chairman & CEO of the Walter Group – but also in the many social causes and organizations that the Somers Family and its Foundation support and benefit. Pierre and his wife, Haisook, have embodied the richness that is the Quebec landscape and culture, the Canadian Maple, their rich family heritage, and together have founded Silver Springs Farm.
Using only traditional methods to collect the maple sap from the trees, Silver Springs Farm is one of the few farms that still produce hand-crafted artisanal maple syrup the traditional way. Only a limited quantity of maple syrup is produced, making Coulée Walter a delightfully exclusive golden pleasure.
More information on the Walter Group and the Somers Family Foundation can be found at www.waltergroup.ca.