F. Dufresne Roars Like A Lion

In a recent article (see “Petroleum distributors are on fire in Quebec”), DepQuebec highlighted the impressive sequence of mergers and acquisitions that took place in only one year among oil distributors in Quebec.

Indeed, the appetite and the ambition of the latters proved to be voracious, to say the least:

• Harnois Groupe Petrolier acquired some forty Marché Express Esso gas stations last fall after having taken control of the important Petro-T gas station network;

• Groupe Crevier has just bought the Gaz-O-Bar network, comprising some thirty gas stations;

• Filgo and Sonic merged last year and are on the move to develop and strengthen their network;

• And finally, Parkland Fuel Corporation, an Alberta-based petroleum distributor, took this week complete control over the giant CST (Ultramar) network, which sells 3 billion liters of gasoline per year to Quebeckers.

We concluded the article by pointing out that other dynamic regional oil distributors such as F. Dufresne (Eko) and Paquet & Fils will not be satisfied just to sit by and watch things unfolding.

Well, it was not long to hear about at least one of them, namely F. Dufresne (Eko).

The latter came out last week in the Journal de Québec to unveil their ambitious growth objectives for the Eko network in the Montreal region.

A little like the legendary baseball player Babe Ruth, Eko pointed a finger in the direction of Montreal and said in substance: “You see there, well that’s where we aim for a home run, you’ll see … ”

The competitors of F. Dufresne would be right to take their intentions seriously since the company has a very good management track record.

First, like Harnois and Crevier, F. Dufresne is a family-owned business that has succeeded its succession and is now in its third generation of managers.

Indeed, founded by Fernard Dufresne in 1950, the heating oil distribution company was taken over by Pierre and Jacques, his two sons, in 1968 and it was they who diversified it with the creation of the Eko network In 1978. True innovators, they have set up their own loyalty program, Milliplein, which is still the only one created locally, as far as we know, in the Quebec convenience store and gas station industry.

In 2009, the company acquired 105 gas stations operating under the Sonerco and Axco banners. In addition, F. Dufresne has proven that it can play with major league players by becoming a partner of Suncor Energy as the operator of the Cadeko service stations that exclusively offer Petro-Canada gasoline.

The Eko network includes 80 corporate and affiliated convenience stores, as well as nearly 140 gas stations, mainly located in the Québec City region, in the Eastern Townships and in neighboring regions.

For 40 years, therefore, since the creation of Eko, the company has grown slowly but surely, at the rate of five sites per year on average. But this could change with the increased competition in the sector and the arrival of the third generation of leaders, Francis, Jérôme and Pierre-Olivier. They have proven their expertise in all aspects of network marketing and operations, so why not push the pedal to the metal?

According to the Journal de Québec, Eko has no fear to compete with multinationals of this world such as Costco.

“We’re going to play in their courtyards. Our goal is to find the best sites that offer strong growth potential, “Francis Dufresne said in an interview.

Well, that’s what we call roaring like a lion! And we like it.