• The presidents of both organizations have shared impressions of their commitment to finding solutions to the challenges that society currently poses, such as climate change, sustainable development and economic and social progress through a cultural and digital transformation, placing people at the center of their decisions.
• The distribution chain of Granada origin is the second in Spain by number of supermarkets in stores of less than 300m2.
• In 2020 Covirán joined the Board of Directors of CEPES, the highest representative institution of the Social Economy in Spain.
Madrid, May 5, 2021 . The president of COVIRAN, Patro Contreras , and the president of the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES), Juan Antonio Pedreño, have held a meeting at the headquarters of the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES) on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of COVIRAN.
Through this meeting, both have shared impressions about the commitment of their organizations to the search for solutions to the challenges that society currently poses, and that have been strengthened during the pandemic, such as climate change, sustainable development and progress. economic and social through a cultural and digital transformation, always placing people at the center of their decisions.
COVIRAN has been a member of the CEPES Board of Directors as a full member since February 2020; adhesion with which the Social Economy employer's association has 29 member partners.
During the meeting, both Contreras and Pedreño agreed that, now, more than ever, the Social Economy business model, and cooperatives in particular, is aimed at facing the challenges of society and, in times of crisis, constitute a fundamental agent in reconstruction to achieve economic and social recovery.
Contreras highlighted that “the integration of COVIRAN into CEPES adds value to the 2,427 members of Covirán who have chosen a model of participatory and supportive economy that preserves cooperative values and principles, and competes in the market without losing their roots. We are convinced that Social Economy companies are sustainable companies, true economic and social promoters in the territories where we are established. Generating shared value is and will be a priority ”.
For his part, Pedreño stressed that “having COVIRAN as one of CEPES's partners is a real pride, since it will strengthen the representation of food distribution cooperatives within the Social Economy business model. COVIRAN has a strong presence in the territory, where the local cooperative supermarkets represent a socially valued and committed model, at the same time that they promote entrepreneurship and the economic and social development of those territories in which they are established ”.
THE WEIGHT OF COOPERATIVES IN THE SOCIAL ECONOMY
Currently cooperatives represent 54% of the companies that make up the Social Economy sector in Spain, and worldwide, there are more than three million existing cooperatives, generating employment for 280 million people (10% of the world's active population ).
Like other companies in the Social Economy, cooperatives have fulfilled the function of providing fundamental assistance to their members through the adaptation of their services and, as they defend from the Social Economy, they have become the necessary path towards greater resilience after the coronavirus crisis.
Faced with this reality, the OThe UN has highlighted the principles of community aid that govern cooperatives and calls for that example of solidarity to be followed. In this context, the contribution of cooperatives to face the pandemic and climate change in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and forge an inclusive and equal future has been underlined.
As a Social Economy company, COVIRAN is a cooperative that contributes to generating development and growth in all the territories in which it is based, becoming a solid response for the future for thousands of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, which in turn generate quality employment in its closest area and promotes a better redistribution of the wealth generated. One of the goals of this company is to positively influence the social fabric, preventing the disappearance of many family businesses and also a model that, due to its capillarity, helps to fix population to the territory and fundamentally in rural areas, at a time when that we should all help it.
About Covirán
Covirán is a food distribution company, made up of 2,855 supermarkets and 2,427 independent retail partners in this sector. Currently, this cooperative occupies the second position in the national ranking by number of establishments, closing 2019 with more than 2,855 supermarkets operating under the Covirán banner spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula. In 2019, it reached 1,463 million gross sales under the banner, 6.7% higher than in 2018.
Its commitment to the social economy, helping to generate employment and wealth in the territories where it operates, characterize this cooperative, a benchmark for the social economy in Spain and Portugal.
