The merger between Coop Adriatica, Coop Consumatori Nordest and Coop Estense which will give rise to Coop Alleanza 3.0, the largest Italian cooperative, present in 12 regions, with 419 stores including 56 hypermarkets, 22 thousand workers, 2.7 million members and a total sales turnover of 4.8 billion euros, has now been almost completed. A few days ago, the names of the three Managing Directors of the new company were presented: Paolo Cattabiani, Chairman of Coop Consumatori Nordest (will be responsible for Finance and Development), Adriano Turrini, Chairman of Coop Adriatica (who is also Chairman, will be responsible for Central Services and Social Policies) and Massimo Ferrari, Managing Director of Coop Estense (will be responsible for Operations).
“We have become bigger to be more efficient and respond to new needs. Eight years of crisis have left the country with poorer and more attentive consumers, with new and different needs – said Turrini: – we want to offer these consumers new products and services that satisfy them”. “Our ambitious idea – continued Cattabiani – is to be a cooperative that not only satisfies but is able to anticipate new needs. We want the store to become a place where members can find a range of services that they cannot find elsewhere: it will be a great competitive advantage and a great satisfaction for the customer at the same time”. The new Coop will adopt the best practices in recent years from the founding Coops: “We need to broaden the scope of our mutuality to give customers more”. More attention will be given to loans from members, with a supervisory body and a new regulation envisaging liquidity of not less than 30% of the loan raised from members and a fixed asset loan not exceeding 30% of the loan raised from shareholders.
“Coops – said Mario Zucchelli, Chairman of Coop Estense, who together with Turrini and Cattabiani managed the merger – have gone from 2,878 in 1985 to 408 in 1998 and 97 in 2014, of which 9 large ones”. Perhaps dictated by the times, even if “diversity is a value and it is not a forgone conclusion that what is being done with these three cooperatives will be replicated,” said Stefano Bassi, Chairman of ANCC-Coop attending the meeting.
“The bigger you are, the more responsibility you have – concluded Cattabiani – and there will be many of us managing it. In addition to the wealth we produce, from Sicily to Friuli, we must be careful how we produce it, pay attention to jobs, relations with suppliers and how we transfer this wealth”.
