Română 
Good news for social enterprises in Romania! A promising dialogue ADV Romania had with a Romanian retail chain resulted in an agreement to list products in four stores in Iasi! The partnership aligns with sustainability goals, providing a platform to promote sustainable and socially responsible products.
From 20 February Iasi residents will be able to buy products made in social enterprises on the shelves of a well-known retail chain.
The initiative is part of the BUYSOCIAL campaign, through which we support social enterprises in Romania to be more visible and enter the big retail chains.
Information event for social enterprises
On 5 February, the ADV Romania team had an online meeting with social enterprises interested in accessing a new distribution channel and increasing their sales through retail presence.
“The fact that we come together and do these things, I think it’s great! Because together we can do so much more valuable things than each individual.” – said Angela Achiței, President of ADV Romania, at the meeting with social entrepreneurs.
Participants in the discussion raised several concerns about the proposed collaboration, including:
- Logistics and organisation: Some concerns were expressed about the logistical challenges of organising the delivery and presentation of products in shops, as many social enterprises are not from Iasi.
- Market reaction: There is general concern about how the market will receive social enterprise products and whether they will be attractive enough to generate significant sales.
- Pricing and competitiveness: One of the challenges is to keep prices attractive to consumers without compromising quality or sustainability.
- Financial risks: The fear of not generating enough profit or even operating at a loss was mentioned, given the uncertainties related to sales.
- Inventory management and replenishment: Concerns about effective inventory management and the ability to quickly replenish shelves with products if they sell out faster than anticipated to maximize exposure and sales opportunities.
What’s next
The products will be present in store in a dedicated campaign display for 1 month from 16 February to 17 March 2024.
In order to prepare the special BUYSOCIAL shelf in due time, in the next period ADV Romania together with the social enterprises interested in collaboration will work on:
- Finalize the selection of products that align with the retailer’s requirements and that are appropriate for the Springtime season.
- Develop and finalize the design for the display to be placed in the store to ensure that it accommodates and promotes the selected products effectively.
- Establish logistical details and label products according to store requirements.
- Prepare and launch a targeted marketing campaign to promote the listed products.
BUYSOCIAL campaign in Romania
Significant opportunity for social enterprises to access a wider market and gain visibility!
As part of the local campaign BuySocial, ADV Romania, as a partner of the European project Buy Social Future of Social Economyinitiated several discussions with large companies in Romania in order to raise awareness of the work of social enterprises and the opportunity to collaborate with this type of economic entities.
In the context of the project, ADV Romania facilitates the access of social enterprises to retail chains. At the moment, discussions are well advanced with a large retail chain in Romania, which plans to list products from social enterprises from 20 February 2024! The products that will be present on a special shelf dedicated to the campaign are in the non-food and non-cosmetic category.
Which social enterprises can participate in this campaign?
ADV Romania offered the possibility of listing in a well-known retail chain in Romania for social enterprises that are part of the ADV Romania community – social enterprises established in Accelerator program, social enterprises that are part of the Social Enterprise Accelerator clusterand members of the network of social enterprises of insertion RISE Romania.
Significant opportunities for stakeholders
This first collaboration with a Romanian retail chain is not only a business opportunity, but also a means to promote a sustainable and socially responsible business model, paving the way for new initiatives and partnerships in the future.
Opportunities for social enterprises:
- Access to the large retail market: The opportunity to be listed in a reatil chain opens up access to a wider market, allowing social enterprises to expose their products to a wider audience than they would normally have.
- Increased visibility: Being part of a nationally recognised retail chain significantly increases the visibility of social enterprise brands and products, contributing to their recognition and credibility in the market.
- Market testing: Gives social enterprises the chance to test market reaction to their products in a competitive retail environment, providing valuable data for product adjustments and marketing strategies.
- Encouraging innovation: Incentivise social enterprises to innovate and diversify their product offering to match the demands and preferences of large retail consumers.
- Developing business partnerships: Sets a precedent for future collaborations with other retail chains or business partners, demonstrating the ability of social enterprises to operate in large-scale business partnerships.
- Networking and collaboration: Encourages the exchange of best practices and collaboration between social enterprises, strengthening the social entrepreneurial community.
Opportunities for retailers supporting the BUYSOCIAL campaign:
- Promoting sustainability and social responsibility: Working with social enterprises underlines the commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, attracting customers who value these issues. integrating sustainability and diversity into procurement policy and value chains.
- Social impact: integrating sustainability and diversity into procurement policy and value chains. Including social enterprises in the supply chain increases the social and economic impact of social enterprises by generating additional revenue that can be reinvested in their social missions, as well as creating jobs for vulnerable people.
- Consumer education: Provides an opportunity to educate consumers about the added value of products made by social enterprises, including how their purchases can help solve social or environmental problems.
- Reliable, local sourcing and the potential for long-term business partnerships.
Follow us on social media to find out with which retail chain we will have this collaboration!
The BUYSOCIAL European project is supported under the COSME initiative – BUYSOCIALB2BMARKET.
The project is coordinated by DIESIS Network, one of the world’s largest social economy support networks, based in Belgium. The project aims to facilitate market access for social enterprises. The BUYSOCIAL campaign is running simultaneously in Slovenia, Romania, Italy, and Poland.
