Agropur Cooperative ushers in a new president
René Moreau replaces long-running president Serge Riendeau
René Moreau becomes the new president of Agropur. Photo Credit: Guillaume Simoneau.
Canada’s second largest dairy processor Agropur Cooperative has a new president with the appointment of René Moreau.
A dairy farmer from Warwick, Que., Moreau has been a member of Agropur's board since 1998. He replaces 15-year president Serge Riendeau who announced his retirement in October.
Moreau’s appointment was confirmed at last week’s annual general meeting in Longueuil, Que. where it was also announced the massive dairy cooperative—with brands like Natrel, Québon, OKA—saw earnings from operations increase 34.6% on revenues of nearly $6 billion in 2016.
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"Agropur's performance is the result of the sum of all the initiatives we have taken in recent years: our mergers and acquisitions, our cost-cutting programs, our major investments in our brands and in our facilities in both Canada and the US,” added Riendeau.
Other 2016 achievements Agropur highlighted at the AGM included:
•Agropur was Canada’s most trusted dairy brand on the Gustavson Brand Trust Index, with Natrel atop the ranking in fine filtered, lactose free and organic categories;
•Made-in-Canada Agropur products will soon start appearing on grocery shelves with the Dairy Farmers of Canada “Quality Milk” logo;
•Agropur will soon begin work on three concepts to instil a culture of innovation and reinvention; the projects were among 60 submitted by participants to Agropur’s Inno Challenge; and
•Over the year, Agropur invested $150 million in its manufacturing facilities across Canada and the U.S. to help integrate its numerous acquisitions in recent years.
Agropur processes nearly 6 billion litres of milk per year at 39 plants across North America and employs nearly 8,000 people. Other brands include Farmers, Agropur Signature, Agropur Grand Cheddar, Island Farms, BiPro, and the Ultima Foods joint venture's iögo and Olympic brands.