Red River Co-op disburses $39M to members

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This article was published 29/02/2024 (821 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Red River Co-op sent $39 million in cheques to its members in February.

It’s a slight increase — 2.8 per cent — from the $38.1 million in equity returns that circulated last year, said Craig Gilpin, Red River Co-op chief executive.

“(Here’s) a really good number: over the last five years, we’ve returned to members — and all of those members are local — $157.3 million,” Gilpin said Thursday.

Co-op members received 10 cents back per litre of gasoline bought in 2023, alongside two per cent and four per cent returns on food and pharmacy purchases, respectively.

The Manitoba co-operative clocked 328,000 members by the end of 2023. Roughly 9,000 people joined throughout the year.

Gilpin believes the membership jump is “a bit larger than average,” due to Red River’s conversion of 12 former Husky locations. Those gas bars across Winnipeg — from St. Mary’s Road to Portage Avenue — have undergone ownership changes and now wear Co-op’s branding.

The boost in payments to members, and a year-over-year increase in donations, largely comes from gas sales.

“On the fuel side, through the last year, our margins at the local level were strong,” Gilpin said. He couldn’t speak for other gas retailers about their profit margins but noted Co-op’s prices are “competitive in the marketplace.”

Red River Co-op is building a gas bar across from Grant Park Shopping Centre (a former Petro-Canada location). The site should open late this spring or early summer, Gilpin said.

The co-operative is touting $1.7 million in community donations, to at least 70 organizations, in 2023.

Money for food security, landing at locations such as Harvest Manitoba and the NorWest Co-op Community Food Centre, took the lion’s share of donations ($1.12 million).

Roughly $141,000 went to non-profits promoting inclusion and sustainability, including Rainbow Resource Centre and Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre. St.Amant, Siloam Mission and Ukrainian Canadian Congress — Manitoba were among the groups to receive money.

Co-op touted $13 million in Manitoba-made goods sold in 2023.

The business covers Winnipeg, Headingley, Selkirk, Stonewall, Lorette, Gimli, Niverville, Ste. Agathe, Oakbank, Teulon, Kenora and Dryden, Ont.

Red River Co-op noted a change in leadership last year; Gilpin stepped in for Doug Wiebe, who retired in the spring.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com