COOPERATIVE PRODUCTS WERE PRESENTED SUCCESSFULLY AT THE FIRST GLOBAL COOPERATIVE EXHIBITION

 

          Cooperative industry is the second most important business, which this year showed a stable trend for improvement of the key financial and economic indicators:

          - improvement in the financial results;

          - improvement in the profitability per BGN 100 revenue from industrial activities and services by more than 80%;

          - increase in productivity per one person employed by more than 20%.

          The positive results are based on several key factors: the significant improvement in the quality of production; the expansion of the assortment structure and the reduction of the share of non-profitable productions and services; the technical and technologic and methodological support provided by the Central Cooperative Union to the cooperatives, the Cooperative Unions and the commercial cooperative entities. Another positive factor is the continuing restructuring of the industrial operations and the diversification of the manufactured products and the offered industrial services, which continued in 2008 as well. As a result of this set of factors the opportunities offered by the common cooperative market were being used more appropriately both in terms of delivery of raw materials and materials, and in respect of the realisation of the products manufactured and services offered.

          The most profitable industrial productions in the cooperative system include mineral water, sugar products, wine production, etc. The biggest part of their products are now offered in the shops under the COOP brand.

          The indisputable business card of the cooperative industry however is bread production which generates more than 40% of its revenues. The bread produced within the system is known and preferred in many of the small and medium towns and villages. In 2004 the Central Cooperative Union launched a project to set regions and to modernise the cooperative bread production. As a result of its successful implementation more than 100 modern bread production centres meeting the requirements of all European standards are operating throughout the country today.

          The fact that the remaining industrial COOP branded products such as mineral water, tea, honey and wine are becoming more and more popular both domestically and abroad is also encouraging. These products were presented by the Central Cooperative Union at the first Global Cooperative Exhibition in Lisbon, held in October this year and were assessed very highly.

          The natural mineral water with the COOP brand is suitable for daily use and meets the requirements of all international standards. It holds certificates issued by English and French laboratories, as well as the NATO laboratory in Munich. It is bottled by Bulminvex-GB EOOD which was established 50 years ago and it is the first Bulgarian mineral water bottling company. Today the technological cycle of the company is fully completed – production of bottles, quality control, bottling and distribution. The high quality of the natural and carbonated mineral water "Gorna Banya" was appreciated also at the national commercial exhibition "Choose the Bulgarian Products" held in April 2008. The cooperative company was awarded first prize at this event.

          The natural bee honey has irreplaceable nutritious and medical qualities known since ancient times. The honey with the COOP brand is produced by the cooperative company "Nectarcoop" EOOD, which has lasting traditions in the production of apian products. It applies proven technologies which preserve fully the valuable qualities of the honey. The company's products are certified for sales at the European market.

          „Bilcocoop” EOOD was established in 1949 and for almost 60 years now it promotes Bulgarian herbs and their healing qualities. More than 40 types of herb tea from ecologically clean regions are produced under the COOP brand.

          Wine production also has lasting traditions within the cooperative system. The preserved technology and the carefully selected grapes allow the cooperative wine producers to offer high quality table, special and limited wine selections at the Bulgarian and international markets.

           The analysis of the achievements to date and the recognition of the current trends in food product consumption indicates that the future development in the cooperative industry should be focused on the recovery and establishment of small and medium-sized regional production companies with the involvement of various cooperative organisations – cooperatives and Cooperative Unions.

          Another key priority in the development of cooperative industry should be the implementation of a complete production cycle: raw material – own production – finished product – realisation in the commercial network and primarily in the shops of the COOP Retail Chain. This ensures to a large extent the raw material provision for the cooperative industrial production, its independence, the better competitive position at the market and secures realisation of the end product.

          An important direction in the investment process within the cooperative industry over the next few years will be the production and realisation of the so-called "ecological" foods. These are foods and good produced from clean raw materials without genetically modified ingredients, grown in ecologically clean regions without the use of artificial fertilisers and plant protection chemicals. These products are also known as "organic foods" and "certified organic foods”. The implementation of projects for the production of goods such as "eco milk”, „eco bread”, „eco sausage” and similar will secure new market niches and new products for the cooperative industry, which are some of the most demanded foods in Europe and globally. Real possibilities exist that some of the small companies in the cooperative system located in ecologically clean regions such as Smolyan, Elena, Kotel, Montana, etc., to be established as cooperative centres for ecologically clean products. The development of this direction in cooperative industry, however, depends on the joint efforts of the cooperative organisations along the whole chain of the production and realisation of such ecological foods.