3. Objective and Methodology
The paper provides an overview of the olive oil cooperative sector in Spain to determine its strengths and
weaknesses, and to consider possible threats, opportunities, and strategies. This allows reaching other objectives:
the establishment of a typology of cooperatives according to their behaviour; and the establishment of a
positioning map to illustrate the most important characteristics of the sector; propose some strategies depending
on the cooperative type…
In order to select our target population, we took those cooperatives with activity codes in the Spanish fiscal
systems that are under the “411” family. This code includes the manufacturing companies of olive oil. The
generic industries in this code are those related with food, drink and tobacco. The Catalonian Chamber of
Commerce provided us with the list of these cooperatives. From this data we concluded that there were 219 olive
oil mills and 137 of them were cooperatives. The size of our target allows us to decide taking all of them.
As is usual in an empirical study, the process for getting data is complex, particularly in the post surveys, thus
we have to face two problems: errors in the postal address and the lack of interest to respond. In order to solve
these problems we conducted telephone contacts to enhance the response rate. Eventually we got a 51% response
rate, which may be considered acceptable for the kind of analysis performed.
The methodology is based on a questionnaire survey of a representative sample of cooperative managers. In
preparing the questionnaire, a full review of the extant literature was undertaken, and interviews were conducted
to assess whether the questions were comprehensible and appropriate. The questionnaire covered: (i) general
characteristics of the cooperatives; (ii) information about the production, finances, and sales of the cooperatives;
and (iii) opinions on the general characteristics of the sector.
The fieldwork was conducted during April–June 2006. The population consisted of the managers of 137
cooperatives in the olive oil sector in Catalonia (Spain). In all, 70 valid, completed questionnaires were returned.
We consider this sample sufficiently representative: there are cooperatives from different zones, with different
turnovers and different number of employees.
The general characteristics of the sampling technique are shown in Table 1.
A factor analysis provided the main factors that characterize cooperatives within the sector, and a multivariate
analysis of the responses was conducted to establish segments of cooperative types within the sector.
4. General features of the Spanish olive oil mills
Most of the olive oil Spanish mills were established between 1910 and 1920. Thus they are mature companies:
the cooperativism allowed the farmer to elaborate and distribute their produce. Nevertheless, the size of these
cooperatives is so small that it does not guarantee having enough resources to implement strategies to allow them
to survive in a free market. From the managerial point of view, small size ends up in a low professionalization
degree; some cooperatives do not have a manager and therefore an inefficient marketing focus and weakness in
its managerial ability is observed. There are other indicators of the low capacity management of the
cooperatives: very few have a quality system based on ISO 9000 standards or in any other system. None of them
has any environmental system based in ISO 14000. The only standard some of them have is about the product
itself with its “guarantee of origin”. Another indicator of the lack of marketing focus is that its olive oil can
scarcely be found in supermarkets, although recently this is improving. There are very few marketing actions.
In spite of this, we observed some changes in the production system used by these cooperatives, mainly since the
entrance of Spain into the European Union. Additionally, there have been some improvements in the inventory
systems, modernization in the bottling and packaging equipment, improvements in the olive cleaning system,
etc… All this has enabled reducing costs and increasing quality –in product and presentation– at the same time.
All the cooperatives have their own brands, so there is not a sector policy in order to find a specific position in
the market. At the same time, they limit their strengths when the sector negotiates with third parties.
We would like to point out another signal of sector weakness regarding its marketing policy: there is a high
percentage of production distributed in bulk –more than half of its production. Although it may be said that the
3. Objective and Methodology
The paper provides an overview of the olive oil cooperative sector in Spain to determine its strengths and
weaknesses, and to consider possible threats, opportunities, and strategies. This allows reaching other objectives:
the establishment of a typology of cooperatives according to their behaviour; and the establishment of a
positioning map to illustrate the most important characteristics of the sector; propose some strategies depending
on the cooperative type…
In order to select our target population, we took those cooperatives with activity codes in the Spanish fiscal
systems that are under the “411” family. This code includes the manufacturing companies of olive oil. The
generic industries in this code are those related with food, drink and tobacco. The Catalonian Chamber of
Commerce provided us with the list of these cooperatives. From this data we concluded that there were 219 olive
oil mills and 137 of them were cooperatives. The size of our target allows us to decide taking all of them.
As is usual in an empirical study, the process for getting data is complex, particularly in the post surveys, thus
we have to face two problems: errors in the postal address and the lack of interest to respond. In order to solve
these problems we conducted telephone contacts to enhance the response rate. Eventually we got a 51% response
rate, which may be considered acceptable for the kind of analysis performed.
The methodology is based on a questionnaire survey of a representative sample of cooperative managers. In
preparing the questionnaire, a full review of the extant literature was undertaken, and interviews were conducted
to assess whether the questions were comprehensible and appropriate. The questionnaire covered: (i) general
characteristics of the cooperatives; (ii) information about the production, finances, and sales of the cooperatives;
and (iii) opinions on the general characteristics of the sector.
The fieldwork was conducted during April–June 2006. The population consisted of the managers of 137
cooperatives in the olive oil sector in Catalonia (Spain). In all, 70 valid, completed questionnaires were returned.
We consider this sample sufficiently representative: there are cooperatives from different zones, with different
turnovers and different number of employees.
The general characteristics of the sampling technique are shown in Table 1.
A factor analysis provided the main factors that characterize cooperatives within the sector, and a multivariate
analysis of the responses was conducted to establish segments of cooperative types within the sector.
4. General features of the Spanish olive oil mills
Most of the olive oil Spanish mills were established between 1910 and 1920. Thus they are mature companies:
the cooperativism allowed the farmer to elaborate and distribute their produce. Nevertheless, the size of these
cooperatives is so small that it does not guarantee having enough resources to implement strategies to allow them
to survive in a free market. From the managerial point of view, small size ends up in a low professionalization
degree; some cooperatives do not have a manager and therefore an inefficient marketing focus and weakness in
its managerial ability is observed. There are other indicators of the low capacity management of the
cooperatives: very few have a quality system based on ISO 9000 standards or in any other system. None of them
has any environmental system based in ISO 14000. The only standard some of them have is about the product
itself with its “guarantee of origin”. Another indicator of the lack of marketing focus is that its olive oil can
scarcely be found in supermarkets, although recently this is improving. There are very few marketing actions.
In spite of this, we observed some changes in the production system used by these cooperatives, mainly since the
entrance of Spain into the European Union. Additionally, there have been some improvements in the inventory
systems, modernization in the bottling and packaging equipment, improvements in the olive cleaning system,
etc… All this has enabled reducing costs and increasing quality –in product and presentation– at the same time.
All the cooperatives have their own brands, so there is not a sector policy in order to find a specific position in
the market. At the same time, they limit their strengths when the sector negotiates with third parties.
We would like to point out another signal of sector weakness regarding its marketing policy: there is a high
percentage of production distributed in bulk –more than half of its production. Although it may be said that the
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