Olymel has a new boss

Olymel, the largest producer and processor of pork in Quebec, has just appointed a brand new President and CEO. Following the recent death of Réjean Nadeau, Yanick Gervais, who was previously at the head of La Fernandière, which specializes in making sausages, will take the reins of the company.

Nathaelle Morissette
Press

Barely installed in his new office, Mr. Gervais knows that many files await him. The Chinese blockade, which is hurting the company’s pork exports to the Asian country, the labor shortage and its relations with the Quebec pig breeders are among the most important.

“These are big shoes to put on”, agrees immediately the new boss, 42 years old, whose appointment was announced publicly by the company, Thursday.

“It’s not the ideal situation,” he said, referring to his predecessor. “I was very close to Mr. Nadeau. It was sure that it was a shock for everyone. The best we can do to pay tribute to what he has done is to continue to grow and optimize Olymel, ”he said in a telephone interview with Press.

Remember that the previous President and CEO, Réjean Nadeau, succumbed to a dazzling cancer in October. It was also Yanik Gervais who had been appointed to act as interim.

He is therefore not a newcomer to the organization. La Fernandière, a family business that he managed for ten years, was acquired by Olymel in 2016. “Little by little, I made the transition from La Fernandière to Olymel,” he explains. Until recently, the accountant and tax specialist by training served as senior vice-president of operations. He was responsible for the management of some 30 pork and poultry processing plants across the country.

“These are colleagues who become my personal guard. Reality, for me, doesn’t change dramatically overnight. We have the same challenges. We will continue what we are working on. I can’t tell you it’s going to make a huge change. ”

“His organizational qualities, his knowledge of operational issues as well as of the markets [local] and abroad, his understanding of customer needs, his team spirit and his strategic vision for the development of the company make Yanick Gervais the ideal person to meet the challenges of the agri-food processing sector, ”he declared in a press release Ghislain Gervais, chairman of the boards of directors of Olymel and Sollio cooperative group, main shareholder of Olymel.

Big challenges

Moreover, although he is working on familiar ground, the new CEO must face important challenges. Currently, China has suspended the export certificate of many pig slaughtering and processing plants, not least because they have had confirmed cases of COVID-19. The Olymel factories in Vallée-Jonction, Princeville and Saint-Esprit are affected by these bans, which have still not been lifted.

“We have Ange-Gardien and Yamachiche who have this possibility [d’exporter vers la Chine]. We are working on a diversification of the product offer to succeed in compensating for this market which is not accessible. There are many political issues that go beyond the Canadian pork industry. Unfortunately, we paid the price. We are staying the course. We will see what will happen. ”

And this situation – combined with the labor shortage – caused the company to announce that it would reduce its purchases in the province by 15,000 animals per week starting in March. It will buy 10,000 less in Ontario.

This decision aroused the ire of Quebec pig breeders, who filed on 1^er November, an emergency grievance at the Régie des marchés agricole etimentaire du Québec.

“We will let the process take its course,” said Mr. Gervais first when asked to comment on the situation.

“You have to understand that, on our side, this is not a decision that was taken lightly. Not at all, he added. We want to work in complete transparency with our business partners, including the Pig Farmers. The labor shortage still forced our hand. We did not have the necessary staff to properly value the meat that came out of our slaughterhouses. If we are able to optimize our access to the workforce, we will review the positions. ”

The Pig Farmers still welcomed the appointment of Mr. Gervais. “I would like to congratulate Mr. Gervais on his appointment as head of Olymel. He, who has an impressive track record, arrives in post at a time marked by many challenges for our sector. We extend our hand to him and we will reiterate the unifying aspect that must emerge from our sector, all the links of which are interdependent ”, underlined the president of the organization, David Duval, in an official statement sent to Press.

In addition, in Quebec, Olymel has 3,000 positions to fill, according to the calculations of Mr. Gervais. Teams have been formed in factories to understand why some employees stay within the organization and others leave. “Now, the majority of decisions will be made based on the workforce. ”