C.I.L.A.

Cooperation: a value to rediscover, an asset to be protected

C.I.L.A. YESTERDAY

Resources, abilities, spirit of initiative

The C.I.L.A. Cooperative was born in 1979 from the merger of two long-established companies in the area: the Cooperativa Agricola of Santa Vittoria (1911) and the Cooperativa Braccianti Agricoli of Novellara.

C.I.L.A. has a long success story characterised by solid roots and faithful attachment to its land and traditions.

In the Emilia region, the first examples of shared management and active cooperation – aimed at securing jobs and mutual support – date back to the second half of the 19th century. In this period, the local leagues evolved into different forms of association including small family businesses and cooperatives.

The Cooperative’s mission is to:

  • Support the people and the territory by identifying needs and priorities, and by finding adequate ways of meeting them.
  • Build new opportunities of personal and social emancipation starting from the resources, abilities and spirit of initiative of the local community.

The peasant families in the area were initially employed in farming and land reclamation activities. Later, with the purchase of the first head of livestock, the peasant families started depending on animal husbandry and the processing of derived products.
Just as war veterans found the strength to forge ahead and lay the foundations for a brighter future, so many farm labourers managed to gradually free themselves from sharecropping contracts.

C.I.L.A. TODAY

Economic efficiency and social responsibility

Today C.I.L.A. is a well-established organisation, whose partners and employees keep a close eye on economic and social changes without ever losing sight of their values and the strong bond with their land and community.
The main objective pursued by C.I.L.A. is to combine economic efficiency and social responsibility through sustainable choices and a conscious use of technology.
Our workers are employed in a number of activities: soil management, cogeneration plant management, animal husbandry, product sale and related services.

All employees are given the opportunity to become business partners: C.I.L.A. guarantees the utmost transparency in terms of contracts and investments.

C.I.L.A. is an important point of reference in the territory: in recent years, the Cooperative has created an integrated supply chain with its neighbours, who have become its suppliers of fodder, hay and corn kernels.

This new organisational approach makes it possible to effectively integrate the supply of raw materials, and to provide valuable support to former farmers and breeders in the area.

C.I.L.A. TOMORROW

Animal welfare, sustainability, traceability

Conscious investments are a good opportunity to look with confidence and commitment toward the future.
Upcoming investments will be aimed at improving animal health and welfare, environmental sustainability, working conditions and product traceability.

 

  • Modernisation of farm structures, with the construction of two new sheds: one for the pigs (approximately 1,500/2,000 heads) and one for the cattles (approximately 1,500 heads).
  • The animals will be placed in different premises depending on age: an approach that not only improves animal welfare in terms of comfort and weight gain, but also gives workers the opportunity to specialise and optimise their activities.
  • The costant renewal of equipment, technologies and strategies will be guaranteed in order to minimise the use of materials with high environmental impact.
  • Full traceability: all the products sold in our shop will be completely traceable, so as to allow our customers to know their origin and to be protected from a health point of view.