MANS is a social initiative dedicated to the production, processing and packaging of organic fruit and vegetables, as well as their
marketing through supermarket chains. The mission of MANS is twofold: to generate jobs for people with difficulties, especially
young people at risk of social exclusion, and to accompany them socially and in their integration into the labour market; and to
reinforce and promote organic farming of proximity, facilitating a channel for their marketing.
Its activity is focused on the Catalan area, with two agricultural production centres in Sant Fruitós de Bages and Palafolls, a
packaging and logistics centre in Sant Vicenç dels Horts, and a packaging plant for nuts in Tarragona.
The cooperative is made up of three social entities: Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, which promotes the project, the Fundació El
Molí d’en Puigvert, dedicated to caring for people with mental disorders, and the Fundació Topromi of Tarragona, which helps
people with learning disabilities and who are at risk of social exclusion.
“As a social cooperative, we work mainly with young people who struggle to access the world of work, young people with few opportunities who come
from risk environments and who, in many cases, have left school early”. They are young people from complex family environments, families with personal
shortcomings or with few economic resources who receive follow-up from social services; and also young immigrants who lack a family network in the
country and who, in many cases, have gone through juvenile institutions, looking for an opportunity not to fall into situations of marginalisation.
To increase production capacity, MANS currently has an agreement with 35 farmers who belong to its network of associated farmers, all of whom have
organic certification and most of which are located in the metropolitan area of Barcelona (Baix Llobregat, Vallés, Maresme and Pla de Bages). Currently 66%
of all products marketed are local (less than 300 km).
Product: Its main products are seasonal and local fruit and vegetables, packaged in an attractive and biodegradable format, and nuts. In addition, MANS has
a range of prepared food and fruit juices to use up seasonal production surpluses. The MANS product can be found in the Bon Preu-Esclat, Condis, Carrefour
and ALDI supermarkets under the brands MANS, ECOOO, AgroSocials or GutBio.
Social and environmental commitment: The work in the cooperative, complemented by training actions, facilitates the social and occupational integration
of people at risk of social exclusion. This task is carried out in collaboration with different public and private resources in what makes up a true network. The
associated farmers also benefit socially by providing them with a marketing channel, with production planning and transparent sales commitment, as this
improves the viability of their farms.
MANS has developed the first biodegradable packaging for organic fruit and vegetables in supermarkets. It is one of the most sustainable packaging
solutions at present for fresh products with a compostable tray and a net mesh made mainly of cotton. With this packaging, it it estimated that the use of
more than 5 tonnes of plastic per year will be avoided. This packaging has received the WorldStar Packaging Awards, one of the most important in the world,
and is recognised as the most innovative in the food category and in its packaging process.
An innovative project: Until now, social agriculture initiatives have mainly focused on therapeutic activity but have had limited economic impact and
scalability, and have been heavily subsidised. The MANS initiative incorporates young people into a real and demanding work environment, and into a sector, large-scale distribution, that is highly competitive. We encourage them to complete their training and accompany them on a tailor-made programme. We
do this in collaboration with different public and private resources (town halls, social entities, companies) in what makes up a true network.
This project also puts a lot of emphasis on providing a commercial solution for the productions of the social entities that make up MANS and the producers
associated with the initiative. In this respect, commercialisation is the economic driver of this initiative. MANS is oriented towards the large-scale distribution
channel with the aim of generating the maximum volume of sales and, therefore, having the greatest impact on jobs.
In 2014, when the cooperative started its activity, the big supermarket chains started to introduce organic fruits and vegetables into their product offer
in Spain. At that time, a commercial relationship (initially exclusive) with the Bon Preu chain began. Since then, we have expanded the number of clients,
incorporating the Condis chain, Aldi and Carrefour.
Thanks to the entrepreneurial and innovative nature of the project, we have been recognised through receiving the Entrepreneurial Initiative in the 2019
Food of Spain Awards (Alimentos de España) organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
