SOLLIO COOPERATIVE GROUP - Key Persons
Adrien Pitre is a grain, forestry and fodder producer in the Matapédia Valley, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. He is the third generation of farmers in his family. With his partner, Solange Lavoie, he bought his father's dairy business in 1986, which he turned into a grain (50 hectares), forage (65 hectares), and forestry (200 hectares) farm in 2010.
Adrien holds a diploma in farm business management from Cégep Matane. Since 2003, he has served on the Board of Directors of La Coop Matapédienne, now Unoria Coopérative since the merger of La Coop Purdel and Agriscar in November 2022. He is a founding member of CUMA Matapédia, over which he presided from 1993 to 2001, as well as of a solidarity cooperative in Albertville. He was also a founding member of the Syndicat de gestion de la Matapédia, and was a municipal councillor from 1990 to 1995.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Executive Vice - President and Chief Executive Officer of BMR Group
Alexandre Lefebvre is an experienced manager, passionate about the renovation and construction sector. Being head of the family business Lefebvre & Benoît, one of the most important building materials distributors in Quebec, since 2012, he now serves as executive vice-president at Sollio Cooperative Group.
Alexandre Lefebvre is known for his diverse management experience, his community involvement and his human values.
He holds an MBA from Queen's University and a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Ottawa. Among his many activities, he sits on the Board of Directors of the Independent Lumber Dealers Co-operative, a buying group with sales in excess of $7 billion, and is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Conseil du patronat du Québec. In 2017, he was named one of Canada's Top 40 under 40.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice - President and Chief Executive Officer of Sollio Agriculture
Job Titles:
- Producer
- Member of the Boards of Directors of Novago Coopérative
Cathy Fraser has been a farmer in the Mauricie region since 2006. The farm has 75 hectares of crops. Having formerly worked in dairy production, she now operates a rabbit farm with a production quota of 625 rabbits per week. In 2021, they decided to turn their farm to meat production. To rabbit meat, they added oxen and pigs sold at retail, on the farm and in
A graduate of Collège Ahuntsic in Civil Engineering Technology, Cathy Fraser is a member of the boards of directors of Novago Coopérative and SOCODEVI, and is actively involved in her community.
Job Titles:
- Field Crop Producer
- Producer from the Lanaudière
David Mercier is a poultry producer from the Lanaudière region. He belongs to the fourth generation to run the family farm. His farm has four poultry houses with 80,000 chickens and 415 acres
David Mercier holds a DCS in Farm Management & Technology from McGill University. He serves on the Board of Directors of Novago coopérative. He has held seats on various committees and boards of organizations in the agricultural sector, including his local farmers' union and his region's RCM.
During his career, Mr. Roy has been a director and chief financial officer at various private, public, parapublic, and not-for-profit corporations and institutions. He managed the finances of McGill University, where he was Vice-Rector, Administration and Finance, from 2007 to 2010.
He had previously worked for major media companies, first as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at Quebecor for close to ten years, then as Chief Financial Officer at Telemedia-a company that owned several dozen radio stations across Canada in the early 2000s.
He began his career at Scotiabank in Toronto and spent six (6) years working as a corporate banker in Canada and the United States, including three (3) years in New York. In this role, he was a lender to Fortune 500 companies, structured complex financing and represented the bank in the largest ever wind-up filed in the United States at the time.
A director of corporations since 1998, he has served on numerous boards of directors and is still active on those of Transcontinental, Noranda Income Fund, and Radio-Canada. He recently added Enerkem to his portfolio and, in December 2019, left the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec at the end of the maximum 10-year term.
He is also a director of the Concours musical international de Montréal and its foundation. A fan of classical music, he has helped foster young talents in the pursuit of their musical careers and international visibility since 2013.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice - President, Human Resources
With an MBA in Human Resources from HEC-UQAM, a certificate in Business Administration and a bachelor's degree in psychology, Mr. Gauthier is returning to Sollio Cooperative Group, where he served as Senior Director of Compensation, Group Insurance and HRIS from 2008 to 2015.
An engaging and visionary manager, Mr. Gauthier boasts 20 years of experience in HR management, specializing in corporate transformation, mergers and acquisitions. Known for his strategic vision, perseverance and results-oriented management, Mr. Gauthier's career path includes stints with Mercer and Aon plc. Since 2019, he has sat on the Board of Directors of Dans la rue, an organization that works with homeless youth.
Job Titles:
- Dairy Producer
- Dairy Producer / Director
Mr. Roy owns Ferme Jalroyal Inc. with his spouse and their son, who is in line to take over the business. He represents the fourth generation. They operate a dairy farm with 100 milking cows in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, including 350 hectares for cultivating alfalfa, silage corn and grasses. He is also a producer of broiler chickens.
Marc-André holds a diploma in Farm Business Management from Cégep de Victoriaville. Marc-André serves on the Board of Vivaco groupe coopérative. He has been its First Vice-President since 2015. He is also active in the Bois-Francs Holstein Club and CRÉA. He has good judgment, motivates and engages, and is committed to greater cooperation and to constantly improving the agricultural industry and members. In 2008, he received the Sollio Next Generation Award.
Me Josée Létourneau is a recognized leader in the field of legal affairs and the cooperative realm. Active in the network for over 20 years, Josée is currently Secretary General and Legal Affairs of the largest agrifood enterprise in Quebec.
Josée Létourneau has earned a solid reputation for her critical thinking skills, her understanding of client needs, and her ability to build relationships based on respect, listening, and trust. She works in close collaboration with clients and their managers in her practice in order to meet their business needs and objectives.
Through her legal experience in the cooperative sector she has developed expertise in cooperative law, agricultural law, business law, corporate law, real estate law, and mergers and acquisitions.
Gifted with interpersonal skills she uses on behalf of her team, Josée is a recognized expert who can advise Sollio Cooperative Group how to best safeguard its interests. She is known for her ability to quickly grasp business issues and draws on her strengths to achieve the objectives set for her, with a focus on action and results.
Josée Létourneau holds a bachelor's degree in law from Université Laval and is a member of the Quebec Bar.
Job Titles:
- Dairy Producer
- Dairy Producer / Director
- Director at Nutrinor
Normand Lapointe and his son run a fifth generation dairy farm. It has 150 heads, 490 acres of grain and hay farming, and a quota of 90 kilos/day. Mr. Lapointe achieved the best national average herd production in the Ayrshire breed in 2022.
Since February 2017, Mr. Lapointe has been a director at Nutrinor coopérative and, since 2019, a member of the Executive Committee. He has served as President of the Coopérative agricole de Jonquière for six years. Mr. Lapointe is also involved in the Planning Advisory Committee for the municipality of Saguenay and his region's UPA Board. He has also been involved in the Expo agricole de Chicoutimi for the Ayrshire Québec association (2018-2019).
Job Titles:
- Business Administration ( BAA ) and a Chartered Professional Accountant
- Groupe BMR As Vice - President, Retail
Pascal Houle holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BAA) and a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation, and heads Canada's largest agricultural cooperative. Chief Executive Officer of Sollio Cooperative Group since 2021, he has nonetheless accumulated over 25 years in the network.
He began his career in 1998 as a Hardware Store Manager at La Coop des Appalaches, then as a management consultant at La Coop fédérée. In 2004, Mr. Houle joined La Coop des Bois-Francs, now VIVACO groupe coopératif, as Director, Hardware, Materials and Petroleum. He was appointed General Manager of the cooperative in 2008.
With his strong operational discipline, Mr. Houle joined Groupe BMR as Vice-President, Retail, in 2013, just before being named Executive Vice-President. In 2015, he became CEO of BMR Group and Executive Vice-President of Sollio Cooperative Group. In February 2021, as part of Sollio Cooperative Group's succession plan, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the organization.
He is known for his hands-on approach, and his understanding of the values and issues specific to the agricultural cooperative community. As a sharp and rallying manager, he draws on the cooperative business model and uses his skills to help feed people while ensuring the prosperity of farm families.
His boldness and expertise in strategic planning enable him to make business decisions that strengthen Sollio Cooperative Group's leadership position in the agri-food sector.
Job Titles:
- Producer
- Member of the Board of Directors of La Coop Seigneurie
- Producer in Lévis
Patrick Soucy has been a dairy producer in Lévis, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, since 2008. He and his partner, Annie Claessens, run a dairy farm with 60 milking cows in Saint-Nicolas, where they produce cheese, milk and other dairy products. They also have 65 hectares of land, which they use mainly to grow alfalfa crops.
A graduate in animal sciences (agronomy) from Université Laval, Patrick has been a member of the Board of Directors of La Coop Seigneurie since 2009, and has been Second Vice-President since 2010. He is currently a director at Avantis Coopérative. He served on the Board of Directors of Promutuel Assurance from 2008 to 2019. He has also been executive director of a number of cooperative entities.
Job Titles:
- Producer from the Chaudière - Appalaches
Richard Ferland is a dairy and maple syrup producer from the Chaudière-Appalaches region. With his partner, Odette Desrosiers, he purchased the family farm in Sainte-Marie in 1990. This is the fifth generation to run it. They manage over 200 dairy cows with one of their sons, Pierre, and own 250 acres of hay and corn crops. Together with Thomas, another of their sons, they co-own Farland sucré inc., their maple division. In addition, Odette Desrosiers and Pierre operate a vegetable greenhouse on the main site.
A graduate of the ITA in La Pocatière, he also serves on the Board of Directors of Avantis Coopérative. He was President of La Coop Unicoop for four years. He also served on the Board of Directors of Développement économique Nouvelle Beauce for three years.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice - President, Information Technology
Mr. Chafki also occupies the function of Vice-President, Digital, Information Technology and Projects at Sollio Agriculture-a position he has held since 2016.
An engineer with a master's degree in computer science and data science from the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA) in Rabat in Morocco, Mr. Chafki also holds an MBA from HEC Montréal. Mr. Chafki's strategic, pragmatic mindset has been strengthened through over 18 years of experience focused primarily on digital transformations, business intelligence and analytics, as well as implementing and operationalizing data governance. He built his expertise within companies such as Sollio Agriculture, Desjardins, VIA Rail Canada, Standard Life Canada and National Bank of Canada. He is one of the main architects of the digital platform AgConnexion, a farm management space designed to optimize operations by grouping all user tools together.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice - President, Public Affairs
Stéphane Forget is Senior Vice-president, Public Affairs, Cooperation & Corporate Responsibility at Sollio Cooperative Group. Previously, he was President and CEO of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec. He has acquired extensive experience in government and public affairs, in management at various levels of government, in public organizations, the associative world and now in a large cooperative group in the agri-food sector.
He holds an MBA from the École des sciences de la gestion de l'Université du Québec à Montréal (ESG-UQAM) and a certificate in law from the Université de Montréal. He also holds a university certificate in corporate governance (ASC) from Université Laval. Stéphane Forget is a member of the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT), and sits on the boards of directors of Coopératives et mutuelles Canada (CMC), Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ), the Réseau des femmes d'affaires du Québec (RFAQ) and the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ).
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice - President, Communications
Mrs. Couturier was previsously Vice-President of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility at BMR Group. This appointment marks Mrs. Couturier's return to Sollio Cooperative Group, where she was Strategic Communications Advisor from 2012 to 2016. Mrs. Couturier holds a bachelor's degree in communications from UQAM and is known for her passion for public relations and communications in all its forms. She put her excellent management skills to good use in 2015 when establishing an efficient and effective communications sector following Sollio Cooperative Group's acquisition of BMR Group. Mrs. Couturier also honed her skills at the Quebec Ski Area Association and with the Montréal Canadiens.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO of Olymel
Yanick Gervais was promoted to President and CEO of Olymel on November 11, 2021.
Trained as an Accountant and Tax Specialist, Yanick Gervais began his career with a firm of Chartered Accountants. Throughout his career, he has been very active on various committees related to the affairs of the Chartered Accountancy profession, notably on training and recognition of the next generation of Chartered Accountants. He holds a graduate diploma and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, as well as a Master's degree in Taxation (M. Fisc.) from the Université de Sherbrooke.
A transparent, rallying leader who listens to his teams, Yanick Gervais makes it a point of honour to always put people at the heart of his business decisions. Drawing on his expertise in the industry, he advocates a participative management style in which he encourages his teams to constantly surpass themselves, by coaching them to help them grow.
Last but not least, Yanick Gervais is deeply committed to his community, and is also involved with a number of philanthropic organizations, notably in the fight against food insecurity and health. In 2023, he agreed to be named Honorary President of the Leucan Experience and to sit on the organization's Board of Directors.