As I write this annual letter, I am reflecting on the incredible milestones that we achieved this year. From a company that started with modest beginnings of a single store, this year we reached more than 16,700 locations and 149,000 team members in 31 countries. We celebrated 20 years since we acquired Circle K and began the journey of establishing a truly global brand. And we also launched a new five-year strategy after successfully completing our Double Again ambition.

All of this has been beyond my wildest dreams when I opened that first location in Laval, Canada. Believe me, I am beaming with pride! Perhaps what I am most proud of is how we continue to balance our growth ambitions with staying true to our humble mission of making our customers’ lives a little easier every day. From day one, we have always put our customers and people first. It is fundamental to our winning culture and how we will play to win in the future.

Our growth in Europe is a clear standout achievement of the year as we almost doubled our size in the region and welcomed thousands of new team members. After visiting those new countries, I have no doubt that this acquisition will be another great success story. How can I be so sure? I saw first hand how the team members fit into our family: they know their customers, care about their people, and live by our values. That has been the secret to our success in the past, and I am confident it will be so in the decades ahead.

Our new 10 for the Win strategy is another milestone of the year. The strategy has strong financial goals that will bring real value to our business and shareholders. I am especially proud of how it is centered on winning
the customer, innovating for the future, engaging our people and being a responsible retailer in our communities. It is one of the things I love most about this company – we are a big business that lives by its
value of doing the right thing.

We had an encore highlight this year that will never get old. For the third straight year, we have been recognized as an exceptional workplace by Gallup — one of the very few companies of our size and scale to win this award. Sustainability also continues to be a lens to the business and is engrained in the new strategy. We fully understand that as a responsible retailer, we are in a position to contribute to a cleaner, safer, and more
inclusive future, and we are committed to doing so.

As we start a new fiscal year, we are ready to make another milestone with the appointment of our Chief Operating Officer Alex Miller as our next President and CEO. Couche-Tard has only had two CEOs during its almost 45-year history, and we take this appointment very seriously. Brian Hannasch leaves a big legacy after his highly successful 10-year tenure, and it was important to us that our next CEO comes from within the business and fully embraces our values, culture, and growth-oriented mind set. For those reasons, we have the utmost confidence that Alex is the best person to be our next leader, and we are truly excited to grow together in the years ahead.