Letter from the Governing Council of EROSKI

I am making this reflection on what 2019 has meant for our co-operative project at an exceptional time, the COVID-19 health crisis, which will condition at least the immediate future of our society and therefore also of EROSKI. This situation has highlighted the need for something that characterises us as an organisation and which in 2019 we have recognised on the 50th anniversary of our creation: to place people at the centre of our work, to direct the efforts of each person to the benefit of the community and to nurture support for society and especially for the most disadvantaged.

After 50 years of cooperative work, in 2019 we have seen significant progress in adapting our organisation to the needs of our Consumer Partners, with clear commitments to key aspects such as health and sustainability. Our governance model, in which the decision-making capacity of the Employee Partners and Consumer Partners sets the guidelines for our project, is proving effective in making our commitment to the social environment a reality.

Over these five decades – through collaboration, dedication, professionalism and social sensitivity – many people within our organisation have made a decisive contribution to ensuring EROSKI is a benchmark in the sector today and our defining characteristics identify us as an organisation with a commitment to health and social welfare. To all those people, I would like to express our most sincere thanks.

Our evolution as a company has gone hand in hand with the transformations that have taken place in society. And the unique nature of our organisation has allowed us to be ahead of the curve. Since our beginnings we have built our project based on proximity to the consumers, who have been the catalyst of our work and our actions, in order to adapt these to their needs and consumption habits.

The present is full of new challenges and we are prepared to face them with our strengths as an organisation. With the commitment of our Employee Partners and the involvement of our Client Partners, whose participation has been decisive in initiatives committed to health and sustainability, two elements that are the spearhead of our offer to the consumer. A clear example of this commitment is the award of the NAOS Prize in 2019 by the Spanish Food Safety and Nutrition Agency, which recognises our contribution to the adoption of healthy eating habits among the population.

2019 has also been a year which has seen important decisions in the corporate field. We have reached a solid agreement for financial restructuring and the new Law on Cooperatives represents a strengthening of our project. Both of these reinforce our ability to face the future with optimism and with renewed enthusiasm in the task ahead, to continue providing greater levels of welfare to society in our sphere of activity.

The achievements seen as a result of working to our formula of cooperation and a focus on consumers have been very important in these 50 years. Our contribution to the wellbeing of society shows that the formula works. We must persevere in this direction, always keeping clear who the owners and key players of our project are, the Employee Partners and the Client Partners, and everything that EROSKI generates is for them, for the society in which it operates, promoting initiatives of support and social responsibility, and always remembering that the focus of our work will always be to improve people’s quality of life. That is why EROSKI was set up as a consumer cooperative 50 years ago, and we must always bear it in mind.

Leire Mugerza
Chairwoman of the Governing Council of EROSKI