Coop. Soc. Raggio Verde Onlus

What Coop. Soc. Raggio Verde Onlus does

Cooperativa Sociale Raggio Verde Onlus is an Italian non-profit social cooperative (Onlus) founded in 1997 and headquartered in Vigliano Biellese (province of Biella, Piedmont). It is a member (socio) of the Altromercato consortium, the principal fair trade organization in Italy, which links 109 member entities, 260 Botteghe del Mondo (World Shops), and more than 150 producer organizations across over 45 countries. The company operates five (plus Cossato) physical Botteghe del Mondo retail locations across Northern Italy — in Vigliano Biellese, Borgomanero, Borgosesia, Cannobio, and Verbania — and a full e-commerce storefront at raggioverde.com. It sells organic and fair trade food (coffee, tea, chocolate, pasta, preserves, juices, honey, Smielate herbal teas), natural cosmetics and body care for adults and children, household detergents, organic cotton apparel, artisanal crafts from Global South producers, solidarity bomboniere (wedding/celebration favors), seasonal Christmas gift hampers, and gift cards denominated €10–€100.\n\nThe underlying technology stack is a standard e-commerce platform with online catalog, shopping cart, user registration, dedicated B2B portal for VAT-registered buyers, and a dedicated Borsa della Spesa weekly grocery ordering module. Order fulfillment is handled through third-party couriers (BRT, GLS, SDA) with 2–3 working day domestic delivery and shipment to all EU countries. Catering operations are ISO 9001-certified and provide meals for school canteens (mensa scolastica) and workplace canteens, drawing on organic and local-producer ingredients. The Borsa della Spesa subscription operates on a weekly cadence (orders Monday, pickup or delivery Thursday) across the Biellese, Borgomanero, and Borgosesia catchments, integrating with the physical stores as click-and-collect points.\n\nRevenue is generated across four streams: transactional retail and e-commerce product sales, professional services catering, recurring subscription through Borsa della Spesa, and B2B bulk sales to VAT-registered businesses. The go-to-market motion is community-led, relying on physical footfall, the Altromercato consortium referral ecosystem, word-of-mouth within the fair trade community, and email and WhatsApp communications with registered customers. Customer segmentation is horizontal, with conscious individual consumers as the primary segment and B2B and institutional catering clients as secondary. Pricing is unit-based at retail, with a subscription tier for weekly baskets and gift cards in fixed denominations. No external investment, M&A activity, or public listing is present.

Name

Coop. Soc. Raggio Verde Onlus

Legal name

Cooperativa Sociale Raggio Verde Onlus

Website

https://raggioverde.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Italian non-profit fair trade cooperative (founded 1997) operating five-plus Botteghe del Mondo stores across Northern Italy and an e-commerce platform selling organic food, cosmetics, gifts, and artisan crafts, plus ISO 9001-certified catering services for schools and workplaces.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fair Trade Retail

NAICS

All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298), Caterers (722320), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Member-Owned Food Cooperatives (CRAHALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fair Trade & Ethical Supply Chains (Certification, Traceability, Producer Support) (BPAGALAL), Fresh Food Subscription/CSA & Produce Box Retail (CRAHAHAG)

Keywords

• Fair trade retail
• Ethical commerce
• Organic food products
• Solidarity gift baskets
• Fair trade cooperative

Headquarters

HQ city

Vigliano Biellese

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail & E-commerce Product Sales: Sale of fair trade and organic products through physical Botteghe del Mondo retail stores and online e-commerce platform. Product categories include food, cosmetics, body care, detergents, clothing, artisanal crafts, and solidarity gift hampers.
2. Catering Services: Catering services certified ISO9001, serving school canteens (mensa scolastica) and workplace canteens with meals prepared from organic ingredients and local producers.
3. Solidarity Bomboniere & Gift Hampers: Sale of artisanal bomboniere (wedding/celebration favors) and seasonal gift baskets (ceste natalizie) with fair trade and local products.
4. Borsa della Spesa (Grocery Basket Subscription): Weekly grocery basket subscription service featuring local organic produce, social cooperative products, and fair trade items. Customers order by Monday and collect or receive delivery on Thursday.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cooperativa Sociale Raggio Verde Onlus is a fair trade social cooperative that sells ethically sourced and organic products (food, cosmetics, body care, clothing, artisanal crafts, bomboniere, and Christmas gift baskets) through a network of Botteghe del Mondo retail stores in Northern Italy and an e-commerce platform serving all EU countries. The cooperative also operates two service offerings: a weekly Borsa della Spesa grocery subscription delivering local and fair trade produce, and ISO 9001-certified catering for school and workplace canteens.

Product overview

Coop. Soc. Raggio Verde Onlus operates as a fair trade cooperative (Altromercato member since 1997) offering an integrated portfolio of products and services centered on ethical commerce. The core offering includes physical retail through multiple Botteghe (stores) in northern Italy and a comprehensive e-commerce platform. Product lines encompass Gift Cards (10-100 euro), Cosmetics/Wellness/Cleaning products, Biological/Fair Trade Food Products, Solidarity Bomboniere for special occasions (weddings, baptisms, communions, graduations), DIY bomboniere supplies, Fair trade invitations, Handicrafts and gift items, Clothing/apparel, and Seasonal Christmas gift baskets. Service offerings include a weekly Borsa della Spesa (grocery basket delivery) subscription service and ISO 9001-certified Catering. Specialty product lines include Le Smielate (honey-infused herbal teas) and Birre Baladin (fair trade craft beers in partnership with Birrificio Baladin). The cooperative's products originate from both Southern World artisan producers and local Italian Biella area small producers, supporting social cooperatives and development projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gift Card
• Bomboniere e Ricorrenze Solidali
• Ceste Natalizie Solidali
• Borsa della Spesa
• Catering
• Le Smielate
• Birre Baladin (Fair Trade Craft Beers)

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Birrificio Agricolo BaladinminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Collaboration between Altromercato and Birrificio Baladin to create two craft beers — Baladin Nazionale Bio 'Revolution' and Baladin Fair Cinnamon — distributed exclusively through Altromercato channels. Baladin sources ingredients from Altromercato supply chains (bergamot, orange peel from Goel Bio in Calabria, cinnamon from Sri Lanka via Podie project, sugar from Paraguay via Manduvirà cooperative). Raggio Verde as an Altromercato member participates in the distribution of these products.
• Altromercato ConsorziocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRaggio Verde is a member (socio) of the Altromercato consortium, the main fair trade organization in Italy. Altromercato comprises 109 member organizations, 260 Botteghe del Mondo shops, and works with over 150 producer organizations in more than 45 countries. This membership enables access to a wide range of fair trade products and a shared brand identity.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Alce Nero: Italian cooperative brand producing and distributing organic and fair trade food (pasta, honey, preserves, juices). Alce Nero overlaps directly with Raggio Verde's food assortment and shares the Italian cooperative/fair trade ethos, though it is brand-led rather than retail-led.
• Libera Terra Mediterraneo: Italian cooperative producing and marketing organic, fair trade food (pasta, preserves, oil, wine) from land reclaimed from organized crime. Operates with the same social/ethical mission and cooperative structure as Raggio Verde and serves similar values-driven consumers.
• Equo Mercato: Italian fair trade retailer operating Botteghe del Mondo stores and online sales, sharing Altromercato membership with Raggio Verde. Directly comparable in mission, store model, and product mix (food, cosmetics, crafts, bomboniere) across a different regional footprint in Italy.
• CTM Altromercato: Altromercato (formerly CTM Altromercato) is the central fair trade consortium of which Raggio Verde is a member. It coordinates 109 organizations and 260 Botteghe del Mondo shops across Italy, making it the closest structural peer in terms of fair trade retail mission, store model, and product sourcing.

Broad incumbents

• NaturaSì: Italy's largest specialized organic retailer with hundreds of stores. NaturaSì competes for the same ethical/organic consumer but at far greater scale and with a primarily organic (not fair trade) positioning, and via its Ecor wholesale arm.
• Coop Italia: Italy's largest cooperative retailer and a major channel for fair trade and organic products (including via the Coop Fair Trade label). Coop represents the broader cooperative-retail universe in which Raggio Verde sits, and competes for many of the same ethical consumers at national scale.
• Ecor: Italian wholesale distributor of organic and natural products, affiliated with the NaturaSì group. Ecor supplies many of the same product categories (organic food, body care, household) that Raggio Verde sells, and is the dominant B2B organic supplier in Italy.

Regional players

• Fair Trade Original: Dutch fair trade food and beverage producer/brand sold across European retail. Comparable in fair trade sourcing model and assortment; not a direct retailer competitor in Italy but a structural peer in the European fair trade retail ecosystem.
• Veritas Bio: Spanish organic retail chain operating hundreds of stores across Spain and Portugal. Comparable as a regional specialty organic/fair trade retailer targeting conscious consumers, but it does not directly compete with Raggio Verde in Italy.

Others

• Oxfam Italia: Italian NGO of the Oxfam confederation that runs fair trade shops, advocacy, and ethical supply-chain campaigns. Ecosystem/thematic peer in the Italian fair trade movement, even though it is a nonprofit advocacy organization rather than a retail cooperative.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coop-soc-raggio-verde-onlus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coop. Soc. Raggio Verde Onlus