Good morning everyone.
La Coop fédérée is the second largest non-financial cooperative in Canada. We are a federation of agricultural and agri-food cooperatives that is 106 members strong, representing a total of nearly 90,000 members.
With total sales of more than $6 billion, La Coop fédérée and its network of affiliated cooperatives provide employment for nearly 16,000 Canadians in 4 Canadian provinces for the most part. Our activities are concentrated mainly in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, but through our subsidiary, Olymel L.P., limited partnership, we are also active in Alberta and have sales offices in Japan and Australia.
The main industries in which La Coop fédérée and its affiliated cooperatives operate are farm input supplies and hardware materials and petroleum products distribution. La Coop fédérée is therefore the largest distributor of agricultural fertilizers in eastern Canada and one of the largest independent petroleum products distributors.
La Coop fédérée and a few of its member-cooperatives are also involved in the food processing industry, and several of our member-cooperatives are also present in the food distribution market. Through its subsidiary, Olymel L.P., La Coop fédérée is one of the largest pork and poultry processing companies in Canada and exports more than half a billion dollars of pork meat to over fifty countries worldwide.
La Coop fédérée is at the heart of an organizational model that brings together agricultural producers, citizen-consumers, food processing entities and distributors. I believe this provides us with a unique viewpoint on our sectors of activity.
How can the Canadian cooperative sector innovate to meet the needs of its members? By their very nature as cooperatives, La Coop fédérée and its network of affiliated cooperatives represent a natural partner for people who have their community’s development at heart. Deeply rooted throughout the Quebec countryside, eastern Ontario and New Brunswick, La Coop network has perfected a business model designed for communities on the brink of decline. This model allows them to maintain basic services for their fellow citizens.
These combination service-stations, hardware and convenience stores are now the modern equivalent of yesteryear’s general store. There are now more than 15 of these businesses currently in operation, providing the community with basic services, thus helping to stop the decline of these communities.