De Medici

Before structuring our work around today’s key focus areas, Danone Ecosystem developed pioneering initiatives. Among them, our Inclusive Distribution projects played a central role in empowering vulnerable populations and creating opportunities for local entrepreneurship. 

These early projects laid essential foundations for our current model: people and their communities are at the heart of everything we do. We strive to build truly sustainable initiatives by training and strengthening the capabilities of key professionals and the communities they serve. 

In 2010, Italy was facing a critical unemployment rate among disadvantaged people over 50, with an unemployment rate of 69% among those aged 55–64. This population was particularly exposed to long‑term exclusion from the labor market and faced very limited re‑employment opportunities. 

At the same time, the Italian retail sector was highly fragmented and inefficient, creating significant challenges at the point of sale. Mellin identified the need to strengthen point‑of‑sale expertise and improve sales execution in order to maximize performance and enhance in‑store effectiveness. 

Launched in 2011 with the support of the Danone Ecosystem Fund, Mellin, together with Spazio Aperto, co‑created the De Medici project. The project supported the creation and development of a social business built on the existing Spazio Aperto cooperative. 

The cooperative recruited and trained disadvantaged people over the age of 50, enabling them to acquire retail and merchandising skills. 

These newly trained teams provided value‑added merchandising services to Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies, creating sustainable job opportunities for older workers while responding to concrete operational needs in retail stores. 

The project was terminated in 2015.