5.1 Common characteristics of the whole sample
The first feature that can be observed is that these cooperatives have had a long tradition (with some having been
in existence for more than a hundred years). At the same time, their associates (Note 2) were aged, as happens in
the agricultural sector in general. It may be that, as a result of both, we found out that the commercialization
effort was limited. They are managing cooperatives now as they used to in the past. Therefore, they were not
concerned about overseas markets, as they did not in the previous century. Just to highlight this, note that sales to
foreign markets represent less than 25 percent of total sales. Management is more orientated towards the product
(technical characteristics as density, acid degree, purity, colour, scents…) than to its production and sale. Really,
managers are mainly interested in some elements of the product as quality, packaging, labelling, branding or a
guarantee of origin. This is the main reason why most cooperatives take the price of their competition to fix their
own price. They do not see how much the market would pay for it, but how much it costs to produce, in order to
guarantee a return of the investment to their associates. At the same time, the main channels of distribution were
their own business houses and direct sales. In general, they are neither focused on distribution nor on innovation.
Very few were aware of the importance of quality management, and very few had a quality certification.
Another general feature observed in the sector is its worries about losing subsidies. Actually, since Spain joined
the EU, Spanish farmers’ incomes have increased, surpassing the subsidy threshold. Losing these subsidies
might give more power to large corporations to commercialize olive oil. We may conclude that there is a general
pessimism and a lack of self-confidence in the sector. They carry on as normal, but the world is globalizing,
therefore they find themselves loosing competitiveness.
There is also concern about the training of personnel and about difficulties in recruiting qualified
personnel—especially suitable managerial personnel. They are not able to attract the profile of managers they
need. They need to outsource the control management to outside auditors.
Most cooperatives belonged to a second-degree cooperative and are federated (Note 3). Nevertheless, very few
were associated with a second-degree cooperative of olive oil. On the contrary, they tended to associate with
second-degree entities related to the supply side. The Spanish agricultural cooperatives were more interested in
political matters than in the economic aspects of their existence. Thus, although 57.2 percent of the cooperatives
belonged to a federation or representative organization, only 46.2 percent belonged to a second degree
cooperative, as is said in the Libro Blanco Social en España (Barea and Monzón, 1992).
5.1 Common characteristics of the whole sample
The first feature that can be observed is that these cooperatives have had a long tradition (with some having been
in existence for more than a hundred years). At the same time, their associates (Note 2) were aged, as happens in
the agricultural sector in general. It may be that, as a result of both, we found out that the commercialization
effort was limited. They are managing cooperatives now as they used to in the past. Therefore, they were not
concerned about overseas markets, as they did not in the previous century. Just to highlight this, note that sales to
foreign markets represent less than 25 percent of total sales. Management is more orientated towards the product
(technical characteristics as density, acid degree, purity, colour, scents…) than to its production and sale. Really,
managers are mainly interested in some elements of the product as quality, packaging, labelling, branding or a
guarantee of origin. This is the main reason why most cooperatives take the price of their competition to fix their
own price. They do not see how much the market would pay for it, but how much it costs to produce, in order to
guarantee a return of the investment to their associates. At the same time, the main channels of distribution were
their own business houses and direct sales. In general, they are neither focused on distribution nor on innovation.
Very few were aware of the importance of quality management, and very few had a quality certification.
Another general feature observed in the sector is its worries about losing subsidies. Actually, since Spain joined
the EU, Spanish farmers’ incomes have increased, surpassing the subsidy threshold. Losing these subsidies
might give more power to large corporations to commercialize olive oil. We may conclude that there is a general
pessimism and a lack of self-confidence in the sector. They carry on as normal, but the world is globalizing,
therefore they find themselves loosing competitiveness.
There is also concern about the training of personnel and about difficulties in recruiting qualified
personnel—especially suitable managerial personnel. They are not able to attract the profile of managers they
need. They need to outsource the control management to outside auditors.
Most cooperatives belonged to a second-degree cooperative and are federated (Note 3). Nevertheless, very few
were associated with a second-degree cooperative of olive oil. On the contrary, they tended to associate with
second-degree entities related to the supply side. The Spanish agricultural cooperatives were more interested in
political matters than in the economic aspects of their existence. Thus, although 57.2 percent of the cooperatives
belonged to a federation or representative organization, only 46.2 percent belonged to a second degree
cooperative, as is said in the Libro Blanco Social en España (Barea and Monzón, 1992).
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
