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Agri-business division of La Coop fédérée rebrands as Sollio Agriculture
March 18, 2019 By Top Crop Manager
The agri-business division of La Coop fédérée, a farm inputs business, will start operating under the brand Sollio Agriculture.
Sollio Agriculture revealed its new identity “to better support farmers through its retail networks ad 320 business sites.”
Ghislain Gervais, president of La Coop Fédérée, said in a statement that the move gives Sollio Agriculture “a strong brand that will stand out in an increasingly competitive market characterized by an unmatched wave of consolidations in the agricultural and agri-food industry.”
“The Sollio Agriculture brand is a response to the challenges met by farmer entrepreneurs operating in an increasingly demanding context due to numerous economic, regulatory, technological, generational and climate changes,” said Sébastien Léveillé, executive vice-president of Sollio Agriculture.
Sollio Agriculture works in three sectors: crop production, grains, and livestock production. Currently the company is heavily established in Eastern Canada, with 97 establishments and retailers in Quebec and 156 in Ontario. In Western Canada, Sollio Agriculture has 34 establishments and retailers. In addition to retailers, Sollio has 18 millers, 16 elevators, eight terminals and three research farms, among its other assets.
Just last year, Sollio Agriculture made numerous transactions, namely the acquisition of Standard Nutrition Canada, a business selling animal nutrition products and services located in Manitoba, the acquisition of Cargill’s grain and crop input assets in Ontario, and a business partnership with Maizex, which produces and markets for the corn seed industry located in Ontario. These transactions totalled an investment of $180 million.
In addition, Sollio Agriculture is building a grain export terminal in the Port of Quebec City — a $90-million investment that will open new international markets for farmers by making it possible for them to export their harvests to the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia. Next fall, the company will commission a grain elevator in Truro, N.S., for the distribution of imported proteins and grains to mills in the region. It is also building a terminal in Oshawa, Ont., for the exportation of grains to Europe, Central America and the Caribbean.
