La Fageda is a social enterprise founded in 1982 in Olot, Spain. Its core business is the production of dairy products, such as yogurts, ice creams and jams. Nowadays, it is the third yogurt producer in the province of Catalonia, and they not only taking care of the production of the products, but also taking care of the entire supply chain (from raise livestock to the final product). Moreover, La Fageda is reall
y attached to the territory and the community where the main offices and warehouse is. For them sustainability, innovation and quality are three aspects that go together and extremely important to make the business succeed. This is why they control and improve every year the impact that the business has in the environment.
However, what makes this company really special is that their social approach. La Fageda is keen on embracing equal opportunities and manner for everyone, avoiding any type of discrimination due to capacities, sex, religion, etc. To follow their values, approximately, 70% of the work force in this company suffers from some type of intellectual or mental disability. They give labour support to all their employees, as well as homecare and social inclusion.
What seemed to be a crazy idea if you asked many people some years ago, nowadays it is not only a very well-performing company but also the major successful history of social entrepreneurship in Spain. They offer tours to education centres, companies and families to show their production process and business model.
I believe that this company has an extremely specific business model. It is, not only an important and profitable enterprise, but also it helps to improve the community with their performance. I think that it is also impressive that La Fageda has been able to adapt their way of doing things, being at the same time a really strong competitor in front other brands. This shows that both objectives can be achieved at the same time, and that a profitable company can also be sustainable.
http://www.expansion.com/emprendedores-empleo/emprendedores/2015/06/26/558d8b8fe2704ec4458b458e.html