The president of Copiso, Rubén Carramiñana, highlighted the challenge of bringing urban citizens closer to rural areas, that is, bringing consumers closer to the reality of food production. Another important objective of agricultural and agri-food cooperatives is to create a cooperative product brand so that consumers can recognize it.
He insisted that we must change the “negative narrative” about agriculture and livestock farming that certain opinion and pressure groups are trying to impose, when the reality is very different. “We have to inform and convince society, reach out to children because they will be the responsible consumers of the future.” The head of Copiso insists that “cooperatives like ours maintain the rural environment and one of our objectives is to attract people to agricultural activity, to the countryside,” for which Copiso has begun to offer scholarships to students in the agricultural field.
Rubén Carramiñana participated in the 19th Soriactiva Forum held on November 12, entitled “Conference on cooperatives as the economic and social engine of Soria.” This project, organized by Soriactiva and Caja Rural de Soria, in collaboration with the University of Valladolid and the Knowledge and Innovation Chair of the Soria-based financial institution itself, is part of the celebration of 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives.
Jerónimo Lozano, director of Urcacyl (Regional Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Castile and León), also spoke at the conference. He highlighted the social and economic importance of the 130 cooperatives that make up Urcacyl, which in the case of Soria with Copiso and Zamora with Cabadu are the leading companies in their provincial areas.
Jerónimo Lozano pointed out that innovation is a constant feature of agricultural and agri-food activity, which is undergoing “tremendous changes” and has managed to triple production. This has enabled Spanish families to reduce their food budget from approximately 45% to 16% over the last 70 years. The director of Urcacyl pointed out that the challenges facing cooperatives and their farmer and livestock breeder members require economic, social, and environmental sustainability, which in turn demands professionalization, training, and research and development (R&D&I).
The conference served as an opportunity to reflect on the current role of cooperatives as a useful tool in rural development. Students studying Strategic Management as part of their Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Management put forward proposals that help to rethink the cooperative model from a young, critical, and creative perspective, adapted to the challenges of the 21st century.
Representatives from the Union of Credit Cooperatives, the Spanish Association of Rural Savings Banks, Campus Duques de Soria-University of Valladolid, the Regional Government of Castile and León, the Soria Tax Agency Delegation, CESEFOR, Megara Energía Cooperativa, together with the heads of Copiso and Urcacyl, participated in the 19th Soriactiva Forum.