How often do we fail to implement alternative consumption projects?
- It is well known that in the last few years, eleven parts of the Basque Country are developing numerous projects to promote other consumption models: consumer groups, cooperatives, shops, etc., but not all the projects that are being implemented always manage to stay in time and achieve the initial objectives. But why? What are we failing in? At the end of May, Labore Bilbao told its partners that it would close its doors after five years of “exciting” and “hard” career. In the confidence that it can be useful for other similar projects, they have shared what they learned from their experience.
Labore was founded in December 2017 with the objective of responding to the lack of service that existed in Bilbao to achieve local and quality products. The goal was to reach a thousand partners around the age of five, and the whole project was designed for that dimension. “We rented a great place, but we had to do a bigger piece than we thought and that made us indebted from the very beginning,” said the members of the work team. Other similar experiences, such as Planta de Pamplona, Bio-Alai de Vitoria-Gasteiz or Labore de Oiartzun, seemed truly viable to attract a thousand partners.
“It should be noted that they had more than 600 members, but it is true that only 220 families bought them with a certain frequency,” they say. They also found another problem related to the dimension: “The project on this scale needed more staff and we left too much burden in the hands of the workers,” they say. In addition, the high workload has meant that project members have been limited to trade management, making it difficult to attend other sections to the extent desirable.
How to differentiate from the Eco-Section of the superr?
“We’ve realized that the reality of Bilbao is more raw than we think. People are not used to shopping outside their neighborhood, even if the store is near the subway outlet. On the other hand, it should be noted that the city is full of supermarket chains and that the food industry has seen a market niche in organic products. Therefore, we have had a great deal of competition in our environment, even if these are not our own philosophy,” they said. Products called Km0, with ikurrina, eco-bio-gourmet stamps, etc., have become the usual of large areas. How do you really get it right to distinguish and prioritize those who bet on another model?
The members of the field have come to the conclusion that they were more ambitious than the strength with which the project began, but there is no doubt that this ambition has led to great achievements such as the number of partners, the relations generated, the treatment, the willingness to collaborate… “In this sense we value very well”, and have stressed that there are sufficient conditions to fill the gap left by Labore. “We have a list of the 610 partners that have tasted well, also the contacts of producers, so there are conditions to launch another small project. We need a prepared human team,” they end.
