Sollio Cooperative Group and networks collaborate to help communities

June 5, 2020, Montreal, Que. – With the heavy toll many are paying due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sollio Cooperative Group, one of the largest agri-food companies in Quebec, has launched the From Us to You initiative in collaboration with 16 agricultural cooperatives from its network to donate more than $550,000 in food and cash to help communities.

The initiative is twofold: first, it will donate about $450,000 worth of foodstuffs from local agricultural entrepreneurs to be distributed to certain Moissons in the Food Banks of Quebec network and the Tablées des chefs’ Cuisines solidaires, and second, it will donate more than $100,000 cash to various organizations, including Au cœur des familles agricoles, Little Brothers and the Association des jeunes ruraux du Québec.

Products will be purchased by member agricultural contractors of participating cooperatives and then distributed throughout the foodbanks in their territories.

In addition, the initiative will offer the greater Montreal area, which is the hardest hit by COVID-19, the retail equivalent of $200,000 worth of Olymel products and $10,000 worth of Citadelle maple products. These products will be divided over the territory among Moisson service centres and the Tablée de chefs program, Cuisines solidaires.

“Driven by our cooperative values, Sollio Cooperative Group and 16 agricultural cooperatives in Quebec and Eastern Ontario not only raised money for the From Us to You initiative, but also imagined, in our own way, how we could sustainably feed our world with products from here, while contributing to the regional economy,” said Gaétan Desroches, CEO, Sollio Cooperative Group. “We sincerely hope that our actions will help our communities during these difficult times.”

Sollio Cooperative Group represents more than 122,000 members, farmers and consumers grouped in 50 traditional and consumer agricultural cooperatives across several Canadian provinces. It employs more than 15,000 people and its revenue totals $7.282 billion.