‘Venim la voi’ (‘We come to you’)- winner of SIA 2010 in Austria
Objective: ‘Venim la voi’ wants to make it possible for Romanian villagers to get access to affordable basic aliments.
Approach: It is based on the idea that supermarket chains, producers or wholesalers resided in nearby cities dispose aliments for free which they cannot sell anymore due to various reasons, e.g. package damages, nearing expiration date. By this means, ‘Venim la voi’ can realize budget-friendly prices (approximately 30 % of regular prices). But it is not only about low prices. As the Romanian rural population is very hampered by immobility ‘Venim la voi’ proposes to bring the product towards the villagers by driving around the rural areas and selling its products directly and on a regular basis in the villages.
Target of beneficiaries:
families with incomes of up to 500 lei/person
Innovation & sustainability:
During the 2010 for the local implementation process there were established partnerships with the Caritas in the town Satu Mare and the Katharina Turnauer Foundation who has already founded an association called SOMARO – based on the successful social market enterprise SOMA Austria – and established the first social supermarket in Bucharest.
The first social market in Satu Mare, the second in Romania, has been officially opened on 2011.
The entrepreneur behind: Jakob is a student of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and especially interested in the field of social entrepreneurship. He worked from 2007 to 2008 for the street children organization CONCORDIA in Bucharest. These times he felt in love with Romania, learned the language and got in touch with the people’s mentality and lifestyle. Furthermore, he also worked in the Caritas project CANISIBUS which offers homeless people in Vienna the opportunity to get at least one warm soup a day.
You can meet Jakob at the Social Entrepreneurs Stories open workshop organized in Bucharest on March 5th