CO.SE.C.

What CO.SE.C. does

CO.SE.C. (Co.Se.C. Società Cooperativa) is an Italian worker cooperative founded in 1978 and headquartered in Crotone, Calabria, in southern Italy. The company specializes in collective catering (ristorazione collettiva), providing meal preparation and distribution for hospitals, care homes, school cafeterias, and corporate canteens. Operating from a centralized production kitchen rated at approximately 2,000–3,000 meals per day, CO.SE.C. employs a staff of dietitians and nutritional biologists to design menus aligned with LARN (Italian Recommended Daily Nutrient Intake) standards. The cooperative complements its core catering business with commercial catering (banqueting and event services), cleaning and sanitation, and an integrated facility management offering called Global Service.

The business model is managed-services-based, with revenue generated primarily through public procurement contracts (appalti pubblici) won in the Calabria region. Meals are prepared either on-site at client facilities or at the central kitchen and delivered in thermo-sealed polypropylene containers that preserve nutritional and organoleptic quality. The cooperative holds five ISO certifications (9001, 14001, 22000, 22005, 45001) covering quality management, environmental management, food safety, traceability, and occupational health — credentials that are typically mandatory for participation in Italian public-sector tenders. Cleaning and sanitation services are delivered to public, hospital, and private clients, while the Global Service line bundles additional facility support functions.

CO.SE.C. is sales-led with virtually no outbound marketing, relying instead on its 45+ year operating history, reputation in the Crotonese territory, and compliance credentials to secure and renew contracts. The organization is owned and operated by approximately 80 worker-members (soci lavoratori), down from a historical peak of 120 in the 1990s. The company has no disclosed funding, no external private-equity backing, and no public listing, operating instead as a stable, regionally focused service cooperative in southern Italy's institutional catering market.

Name

CO.SE.C.

Legal name

Co.Se.C. Società Cooperativa

Website

https://cosec.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Short description

CO.SE.C. is an Italian worker cooperative founded in 1978 in Crotone, Calabria, providing collective catering, commercial catering, cleaning, and integrated facility management services primarily to public hospitals, schools, and corporate clients across the Calabria region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Contract Catering and Facility Services

NAICS

Food Service Contractors (722310), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Worker-Owned Grocery Cooperatives (CRAHALAC)

Keywords

• Collective catering services
• Institutional food service
• Facility management services
• Commercial banqueting catering
• Contract cleaning services

Headquarters

HQ city

Crotone

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Collective Catering Services: CO.SE.C. generates revenue by winning and operating public and private contracts for meal preparation and distribution. Services include hospital catering, school cafeteria (mense scolastiche), company cafeterias (mense aziendali), and catering/catering delivery. Revenue is derived from contractual service agreements, primarily through public procurement.
2. Commercial Catering (Banqueting & Catering): Commercial catering services including banqueting for weddings and events, catering for corporate meetings, and hot meal delivery (fresco/caldo) to workers, professionals, elderly, and disabled individuals. Revenue is generated through event-based fees and recurring meal delivery contracts.
3. Cleaning and Sanitation Services: Cleaning and sanitation services provided in public, hospital, and private settings, including disinfection, pest control, and specialized cleaning. Revenue comes from service contracts with public institutions and private clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CO.SE.C. is a cooperative that delivers collective and institutional catering services for hospitals, schools, and corporate cafeterias, alongside commercial catering for banquets and events, professional cleaning services, and integrated facility management under a Global Service model. Production capacity supports 2,000-3,000 meals per day, and the cooperative operates across public and private sector contracts primarily in southern Italy.

Product overview

CO.SE.C. is a cooperative offering a portfolio of four interconnected service lines: Ristorazione Collettiva (collective catering for hospitals, schools, and companies), Ristorazione Commerciale (banqueting and event catering), Servizi di Pulizia (cleaning and sanitation), and Global Service (integrated facility management). The core offering is collective catering with 40+ years of experience, supplemented by commercial catering capabilities and facility management services. The company operates with a daily production capacity of 2,000-3,000 meals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ristorazione Collettiva (Collective Catering)
• Ristorazione Commerciale (Commercial Catering) Banqueting and event catering service for private clients, event organizers, and organizations hosting ceremonies, weddings, corporate events, and other one-off or recurring occasions.
• Servizi di Pulizia (Cleaning Services) Professional cleaning services for institutional and corporate clients, delivered under ISO 9001/14001/45001 management standards and frequently bundled with catering into integrated contracts.
• Global Service (Integrated Facility Management) Integrated facility management offering that combines collective/commercial catering, cleaning, and ancillary services into a single contractual delivery for public and private clients seeking a single-vendor outsourced solution.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,000–3,000 meals produced per day

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Consorzio Nazionale Servizi di BolognaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Consorzio Nazionale Servizi di Bologna provided technical support during CO.SE.C.'s founding phase in the late 1970s, helping the cooperative win its first school and hospital catering contracts in the Crotonese territory.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• CIR Food: CIR Food is an Italian cooperative providing collective catering, facility management, and cleaning services across Italy. As another worker-cooperative in the same institutional food service space, it is the closest structural and operational comparable to CO.SE.C.
• Camst: Camst is one of Italy's largest cooperative catering groups, serving schools, hospitals, companies, and public institutions nationwide. Like CO.SE.C., it operates a cooperative model and competes for the same public procurement contracts.
• Serenissima Ristorazione: Serenissima Ristorazione is an Italian cooperative specializing in collective catering for schools, hospitals, and corporate canteens. It directly overlaps CO.SE.C.'s core institutional catering offering and cooperative ownership model.
• Pellegrini Spa: Pellegrini is a leading Italian contract catering company serving corporate, healthcare, education, and public sector clients. It is a direct competitor to CO.SE.C. in collective catering tenders across Northern and Central Italy.
• Gemeaz Elior: Gemeaz Elior is the Italian subsidiary of Elior Group, providing contract catering and facility services to corporate, healthcare, and education clients. It is a major competitor to CO.SE.C. for institutional food service contracts in Italy.
• Markas: Markas is an Italian facility services company offering catering, cleaning, and integrated services to public and private clients. It competes with CO.SE.C. across the same collective catering and cleaning verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Sodexo Italia: Sodexo Italia is the Italian arm of the global Sodexo Group, providing food services and integrated facility management to corporate, healthcare, and education clients nationwide. It competes for the same public procurement contracts but at substantially larger scale.
• Compass Group Italia: Compass Group Italia, part of the global Compass Group, delivers contract food services and support services across Italy. It is a broad incumbent competitor for institutional catering tenders.
• Dussmann Italia: Dussmann Italia provides facility services including cleaning, catering, and integrated services to public and private sector clients. It overlaps CO.SE.C.'s cleaning and Global Service offerings as a larger, multi-service competitor.

Regional players

• Itinera (Italiana Catering): Italiana Catering operates in the institutional catering and banqueting space in Italy, with overlap to CO.SE.C.'s commercial and collective catering service lines. It represents an additional domestic competitor in the food service contracting market.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CoSeCCooperativa

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 CO.SE.C.