Launch of Unoria Coopérative

Unoria Coopérative, a large-scale entity resulting from the merger of La Coop Purdel and Agriscar Coopérative, was inaugurated today. At the same time, Unoria Coopérative launched Sollio & Unoria Cooperative Agriculture, a joint venture with Sollio Agriculture. 

These consolidation efforts will allow Unoria Cooperative to offer unparalleled service to its members, farmers, and customers over the long term. On behalf of all the farmer members in the area, Vallier Chouinard, President of Unoria Coopérative and owner of Ferme de la Seigneurie 2000 Inc. in St-Arsène, says, “We are helping to create a new cooperative that is very well positioned to better serve the interests of our members and local family farms. Its business conditions will be optimized so that it can react more quickly to the market and become more agile.”

Unoria Coopérative

With consolidated sales of nearly $280 million, Unoria Coopérative is becoming one of the largest employers in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie regions. The merger of La Coop Purdel and Agriscar Coopérative will promote more jobs options, boost mobility, and encourage the next generation of farmers while capitalizing on the know-how of both cooperatives. Unoria Coopérative will also operate in the fields of agriculture, retail, and machinery, as well as energy under the new identity of Propulse Énergies.

In addition to ensuring the sustainability of family farms, the increased collective wealth will lead to greater local self-sufficiency.

Olivier Pastor, General Manager of Unoria Coopérative, says, “Unoria Coopérative’s motto is ‘stronger together,’ and our members have lived by this every day for generations, working together to feed people since the first farming families settled in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie regions. We are giving ourselves the means to thrive and prosper while preserving our close relationship with our members, which is key to the vitality of our regions.”

Sollio & Unoria Cooperative Agriculture

The partnership between Unoria Coopérative and Sollio Agriculture will bring together all of the cooperative’s agricultural activities in a leading-edge, intermediary-free joint venture that will offer efficient services.

According to Marco Dumais, General Manager of Sollio & Unoria Cooperative Agriculture, “This agricultural partnership marks a transition in our business model, which seeks to build a critical mass and make strategic regional investments, increase our market share, and mobilize a team that is fully dedicated to the agricultural industry.”

Casper Kaastra, Chief Executive Officer of Sollio Agriculture, says, “Our partnership with Unoria Coopérative gives us the opportunity to join forces and better understand the field expertise of farmers so that we can better adapt to their needs. The viability of agricultural businesses hinges on our ability to adapt and be close to the farmers, and we can do just that with the creation of Sollio & Unoria Agriculture. Through this partnership, every farmer is supported by one of Canada’s largest agricultural networks.”
 

About Unoria Coopérative

Resulting from the merger of La Coop Purdel and Agriscar Coopérative, Unoria Coopérative has potential sales of more than $280 million, employs nearly 600 people, and serves 1,078 farmer members and 7,417 associate and auxiliary members. From an operational standpoint, it includes a mill that produces poultry, swine, and ruminant feed, a sow barn, 14 hardware stores, five service stations, two machinery garages, and a farm equipment dealership. It also distributes lubricants and energy products under the new identity of Propulse Énergies.

About Sollio Agriculture

Sollio Agriculture, the Agri-business Division of Sollio Cooperative Group, is a Canadian leader in the agriculture industry. It specializes in the merchandising of farm inputs and value-added agronomic services and benefits from a synergy between three sectors: Livestock Production, Crop Production and Grain. Present in almost every part of Canada, it has more than 1,200 employees and made $2.772 billion in sales in 2021, in Canada and abroad.