Cogeca’s  “European Award for Co-operative Innovation” in 2012, is an initiative that aims to promote Innovation in and by agri-food cooperatives. 

Food production is one of the unique features of the European heritage and European farmers have a strong reputation for producing high quality food. European agri-cooperatives have used  Innovation to respond to market and consumer demands and seek a return from the market.

  
European farmers have combined forces in agri-cooperatives  to further improve their market positioning .This allowed them to jointly finance investments, which are essential to adapt to the dynamic economic environment and to the evolving consumer preferences.

 
European agri-cooperatives offer high quality and value added products to cater for the needs of some 500 million European citizens and of a significant global consumer segment.

However, the global demographic, technological and ecological challenges demand a more sophisticated response from farmers. Agri-cooperatives need to produce more and better products, in a sustainable manner, in order to gain a better share from the value chain and ensure the economic viability and profitability of farmers.

The need for innovative solutions is, for example, demonstrated in the case of an apple producer, who needs to maintain the freshness and all delicate nutrients of his apples, through a long supply chain with multiple transaction stages. This must be done, while also keeping a fully traceable track and providing complete information to customers, frequently even continents away. 

  
While the current economic crisis persists in most EU Member States, the EU has defined the “Innovation Union”, as one of its key priorities. Implementing innovation in multiple ways,  is essential for  Europe to achieve its 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. At the same time, business leaders request better policies and more investments to support  innovative and creative solutions to our ever increasing economic problems.

This Award aims to raise awareness among European cooperatives of the need to develop innovative solutions, and to disseminate the achievements reached by some cooperatives in the agri-food chain.

Apart the direct interest to support cooperative innovation, an important communication opportunity will be created, at the occasion of the presentation of the award winners. High level representatives of European and International Institutions, as well as of other stakeholders will participate at the presentation of the award. This event is scheduled to take place in Brussels, in the afternoon of 20th June 2012.

In addition to that, 2012 has been proclaimed by United Nations as the International Year of Cooperatives. It is therefore evident that within this framework, cooperatives participating in the “European Award for Cooperative Innovation” will be found at the centre of attention of World and EU institutions.