97TH AGM | CHANGES IN GOVERNANCE AND IN THE BRAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
Montréal, March 1, 2019 – As part of its 97th Annual General Meeting, which was held at the Quebec City Congress Centre on Thursday, February 28th, La Coop fédérée convened its Board of Directors today to proceed with the election of its executive committee.
The composition of the committee is as follows:
President: Ghislain Gervais
1st Vice-president: Muriel Dubois
2nd Vice-president: Mathieu Couture
1st Executive member: Richard Ferland
2nd Executive member: Marc-André Roy
Welcome to Two New Directors
In addition, the election of directors at the 2019 Annual General Meeting marked the first year of transition to La Coop fédérée's new Vision 2020 governance model. As part of this transition, two new permanent positions have been created to represent geographic agricultural areas.
For these positions, Jean-Philippe Côté was elected to the Joint Venture Group, Sector 2 for a term of one year, and Jean Bissonnette was elected to the Cooperative Group, Sector 3 for a term of two years.
The board will be composed of 17 directors on a temporary basis until the transition period ends in 2021, at which point the composition of the board will be restored to 15 directors.
"During the past year, the Board of Directors engaged in a strategic reflection exercise to define the model for "La Coop fédérée of Tomorrow". The planning process focused on the primary orientations for the organization such as growth strategy, governance, financial model, patronage dividends, talent retention and branding," said Ghislain Gervais, president of La Coop fédérée.
Robert Dutton also announced that he was stepping down as guest director, a position he has held for the last three years.
"We would like to acknowledge Robert Dutton’s work and dedication. His entrepreneurial expertise, strategic vision and influential retail leadership have been a major asset to the organization. We wish him the best of success for the future," said Ghislain Gervais.
The board of directors will determine in the coming weeks the profile of the candidate who will replace him as guest director.
The composition of the Board of Directors will be as follows:
Sector 1: Richard Ferland, Jean-François Pelletier, Adrien Pitre and Patrick Soucy
Sector 2: Mathieu Couture, Marc-André Roy and Jean-Philippe Côté
Sector 3: Ghislain Gervais, Muriel Dubois and Jean Bissonnette
Sector 4: Normand Marcil, Benoit Massicotte, François Drainville, David Mercier
Sector 5: Réjean Vermette
Sector 6: Cathy Fraser
Director by invitation: vacancy
La Coop fédérée takes a big step forward with its branding strategy
During the meeting, delegates passed a resolution authorizing proceedings to be initiated that will lead to a change of corporate name for the organization. The proposed business name will be Sollio Groupe coopératif.
Some legal steps still have to be taken before final confirmation of the new name. This should be completed during the fiscal year leading up to La Coop fédérée’s next annual general meeting in February 2020.
"We must celebrate this news because it represents a major turning point for the business identity and positioning of La Coop fédérée and its network for the years to come,” said La Coop fédérée’s chief executive officer, Gaétan Desroches.
"’La Coop fédérée of Tomorrow’ will also lead us in pursuing the steps toward repositioning our identity. The goal is to deploy a brand that will be influential with both people and of its time, as it was during the cooperative’s creation and through the periods of social and regional transformation across Quebec," concluded Mr. Gervais.
On the eve of its 100th anniversary, La Coop fédérée is maximizing its efforts to continue building a network of solid, prosperous and responsive regional cooperatives that respects its cooperative values.
About La Coop fédérée
Founded in 1922, La Coop fédérée is the largest agri-food enterprise in Québec, the only pan-Canadian agricultural cooperative and the 24th largest agri-food cooperative in the world. It represents more than 120,000 members, agricultural producers and consumers, who are grouped together in nearly 60 cooperatives spread out across several Canadian provinces. It employs 14,000 people and has sales reaching $6.5 billion. Including its affiliated cooperatives, La Coop fédérée accounts for nearly 19,000 employees and combined sales of $9.5 billion. Its activities are divided into three divisions: Olymel S.E.C. (under the Olymel, Flamingo and Lafleur, Aliments Triomphe, and Pinty’s banners), the AgriBusiness Division (under La Coop and Elite, Agrocentre, Agrico and Agromart, and Country Stores banners), and Groupe BMR inc. (under the BMR, Unimat, Agrizone and Potvin & Bouchard, La Shop and Country Stores banners). To find out more, Twitter: twitter.com/LaCoop_federee. Facebook: facebook.com/LaCoopfederee
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Source:
Ben Marc Diendéré, Senior Vice-president, Communications, Public Affairs & Brand Management
Twitter: @Marc_Ben
Information and interview requests:
Nicolas Poirier-Quesnel, Senior Manager, Communications, Public Affairs & Government Relations
nicolas.poirier-quesnel@lacoop.coop | 514-858-2020