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Social enterprises in Italy

01 May 2007

 

Judith Brown, Head of SoFI’s Third Sector Development Unit, recently went on a study visit and conference hosted by the Italian development partnership, as a delegate with the UK development partnership – Inspire. The five day visit took in a number of social enterprises and also included a two-day conference.

The study visits included the Meals Production Centre of Villa Perla Service where food is prepared and delivered to schools across the region.

The study visits were then followed by a two-day conference with partners, looking at the potential of replicating and franchising social enterprise models. The conference also focused on tools and methods social enterprises can use to market themselves effectively. Judith delivered a paper entitled: ‘To what extent should social enterprises be marketing their social objectives: does the customer really care?’ The paper focused on social enterprises as an unique alternative business model using trading as a way of furthering, promoting and financing their social objectives. But how relevant are these social objectives to the customer? In other words, do customers actually care about the social objective of a social enterprise?

Using data to illustrate the rise in consumer demand for ethically sourced, organic and fairtrade products, Judith argued that social objectives have become an important selling feature for social enterprises. They provide a unique selling point. However, they must adopt up-to-date marketing methods and tools to convey their social objective effectively and efficiently in a way that is easily and quickly interpreted by the customer.

Commenting on her visit, Judith said, ‘This was a great opportunity to see some excellent examples of successful social enterprises operating in new business areas such as school meals. The visit to Italy was particularly valuable for comparing government policy relating to the social enterprise sector in the UK and Italy. The Italian legal system has long supported the social enterprise sector via a constitution which embodies ‘social solidarity’, ie the commitment of one person to another and of all individuals to their community’. Finally, Judith noted, ‘the food prepared by the staff of the social enterprise certainly looked more appetising than the meals I used to get when I was at school!’


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