COOPERATIVA LA DIFFERENZA
LOCATION
ITALY, VERBANO-CUSIO-OSSOLA
SECTOR
INTEGRATION, CATERING
YEAR OF INVESTMENT
2021
Founded in 2016, La Differenza is a type B social cooperative that deals with job placement for people with disabilities or socially fragile people through the management of a Piadeneria in the historic center of Domodossola. In addition to this, the cooperative also deals with accessible tourism for people with disabilities and social communication through the “Rotellando” project.
The Cooperative’s priority objectives are the employment of disadvantaged people through recruitment, training internships and social inclusion paths and the promotion of independent living and mobility for people with disabilities by promoting activities involving accessible tourism, catering and communication.
Until the pre-covid era, Pier’s Pida was a place of conviviality; its clientele was not looking for fast food, but a place where they could meet, dialogue, and enjoy typical products from the land of Romagna, pairing them with those from Ossola. With the arrival of the COVID pandemic and related restrictions, the business came to an abrupt stop and experienced a major decrease in turnover and impoverishment not only economically but also socially. However, to avoid the closure of the activity and try to continue the inclusion of disadvantaged people, the Cooperative has promoted, also thanks to the support and backing of Restart Italia, delivery and take-away, keeping the service always open and active to give a signal of presence and continuity to customers. Looking forward, once the Covid emergency is overcome, the Cooperative would like to start a project of an artisanal piadina workshop for sale to large retailers, thus fostering and implementing job placement opportunities and diversifying the products offered to offset any decreases in retail sales.