The General Manager for Clearview Co-op says though 2021 had its challenges, it was still a great year.

The co-op recently held its annual general meeting. Henry Nickel says they saw both growth and change in the last year. Changes included the opening of a new gas bar, convenience store and car wash at their Mitchell location in August. Nickel notes there has been a great response from the community over the much-needed change.

Three months later, Clearview Co-op welcomed staff from St. Malo Co-op after a successful amalgamation.

"This transition went very smooth," notes Nickel. "And the community is certainly very excited about the change that has happened there."

Nickel says the amalgamation allows Clearview Co-op to get into more diversified offerings, opening a larger door to grocery. He notes they now have experienced people in that department, which can help grow that commodity.

"And many of our Clearview members were already using those facilities, so they can now benefit from that as well," he says.

But, Nickel says 2021 also had its challenges. He notes the pandemic continues to cause supply chain issues. This can impact prices as well as the availability of products at certain times.

"I just heard (Wednesday) again, some equipment that we need for our pumping equipment, for the supply to our members, and there's a part that we can't get and so that puts that piece of equipment down," he notes.

With the pandemic now into its third year in Manitoba, Nickel points out that 2021 was still more profitable than 2020. For 2021, Clearview Co-op was able to allocate $6.9 million back to its members. Nickel says over the last decade, their average net savings per year has been $11.6 million. He notes for St. Malo members, they were able to pay back nearly $300,000 from that store for last year.

Meanwhile, with the increase to the carbon tax, Nickel says customers can expect to pay a little more for fuel. By Friday morning, their price at the pump had gone up by a few cents per litre.