Community Enterprise

Agricultural Development and Environmental Protection in Transylvania.
Fundația ADEPT, founded in 2004, is a biodiversity conservation and rural development NGO based in Saschiz, Romania.

+40 (0) 265 711 635
Email: office@fundatia-adept.org

Fundatia ADEPT Transilvania
Str. Principală, 166, Saschiz, Mureș, 547510, România

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Fundația ADEPT has developed a basic model of a community-owned micro-processing unit, easily to be replicated, for village-level food processing, enabling small-scale producers in the area to sell their traditional recipes more widely, while meeting the safety and hygiene regulations set out by the EU.

SES or Social Enterprise is a new type of initiative that aims to solve a social problem through business-specific methods. The social economy is an alternative form of economic development based on ethical principles - solidarity, democracy, professional and personal development, functioning according to the market economy and independent of the state. Solidarity economy or economy closer to the soul are syntagms that best define the notion of social economy. The objective of the social economy is to eradicate a social problem, in general, that threatens people and society (eradication of poverty, solving a health problem or providing access to education for disadvantaged people).

Investors only get back as much as they invested. No dividends over the amount originally invested (regardless of inflation rate). Once the investment is recovered by the entrepreneurs, profit is reinvested to expand and improve the business. The company behaves consciously about environmental issues. Employees are remunerated at market level, benefiting from better working conditions than standard.

SES Fruleco HNV aims to contribute to local development and social cohesion, with a high potential for generating and maintaining stable employment. Currently, the social enterprise includes seven full-time employees, of which five persons belonging to vulnerable groups. The main objective is to eradicate poverty behaving responsibly towards environmental issues, not to maximise the profit.

Establishment of SES Fruleco HNV continues the activities of ADEPT to support small producers and, implicitly, to protect the High Nature Value (HNV) agricultural landscapes in Transylvania.

The small producers in the area, lacking sales and promotion experience, fail to overcome competitive barriers and often choose to abandon commercial activities that may increase their revenue. The social economy structure Fruleco HNV aims to support and be supported by both small local producers and fruit pickers in the spontaneous flora. This enterprise is an economic sector at the border between the private sector (business) and the public (governmental) sector and is designed to generate innovative solutions for the social, economic and environmental issues of local community members.

SES Fruleco HNV is equipped with the necessary equipment for the collection, storage and processing of fresh, frozen vegetables and fruits, as well as jams and syrups. The building where the enterprise operates is also a regional collection and distribution center at national level. The locally processed fruits, vegetables and products are collected in the central warehouse located in Saschiz, Mures County. Processing, storage, refrigeration services are reserved at the Saschiz office within availability. For example: for the production of cranberry juice, those who are interested will notify the office, who will schedule them according to availability, the amount of fruit to be processed and the distance to the location. Currently products are delivered locally. The collection center also functions as an information center for those interested and can be visited by other entrepreneurs.

HNV SES Fruleco sells jams, frozen fruits, juices and preserves from Târnava Mare area, prepared from the spontaneous flora of the area and from local fruit and vegetables. They generally have a large amount of fruit and a small amount of sugar (for preservation), are full of flavor and do not contain other additives. The pickles, preserves and juices are prepared according to traditional recipes, preserved from elders and transmitted from generation to generation, using vegetables or fruits from the farmers' gardens in the area.

For more information about our products, please visit our website, www.frulecohnv.ro.