NAMASTE’ / ZEROPERCENTO
LOCATION
ITALY, BERGAMO
SECTOR
INTEGRATION, ACCESS TO CONSUMER PRODUCT
YEAR OF INVESTMENT
2021
Namastè is a type B social cooperative founded in 2016 by four women.
The cooperative focuses on the employment of people with intellectual disabilities through the management of food and non-food outlets from the ethical supply chain.
Namasté offers frail people a real job and teaches a trade, helps them grow and become independent, gives responsibility and demands commitment and perseverance, creates ad hoc pathways, supports active job search and prepares for interviews.
In 2017 it opened ZeroPerCento, a Food Market in the Niguarda neighborhood of Milan that, in addition to selling products, offers various services to local residents (e.g., social concierge, grocery delivery…) and works in partnership with other local entities that deal with disabilities.
In November 2020, the members opened another store in Via Signorelli, Sarpi area.
Zeropercento offers “neighborhood stores”, a showcase of ethical and sustainable products, also run by neighborhood residents who have an intellectual disability and are unemployed.
The products available inside the stores, food and non-food, are ethical that is, they are made with respect for the environment and human labor.
To date Namasté distributes goods from more than 80 producers, all from the ethical supply chain.
More than 70 percent of the people who have been followed by Namasté now have permanent jobs with other companies, particularly large-scale food retail chains.