The 'Buy Social' project (May 2023- Oct. 2024) is an initiative aimed at promoting and facilitating partnerships between social economy enterprises (SEEs) and mainstream businesses. Its primary goal is to encourage mainstream businesses to integrate social economy enterprises into their supply chains and business operations. This helps to support SEEs, which focus on social and environmental goals, by providing them with greater market access and financial stability.

The project’s final public event took place in Milan on the 17 October 2024 and highlighted key aspects of the project:

1. Promoting Social Procurement: Encouraging mainstream businesses to consider SEEs as suppliers, thus driving more business to social enterprises.

2. Creating Partnerships: Building collaborations that can leverage the strengths of both SEEs and mainstream businesses for mutual benefit and greater social impact.

The 'Buy Social' project (May 2023- Oct. 2024) is an initiative aimed at promoting and facilitating partnerships between social economy enterprises (SEEs) and mainstream businesses. Its primary goal is to encourage mainstream businesses to integrate social economy enterprises into their supply chains and business operations. This helps to support SEEs, which focus on social and environmental goals, by providing them with greater market access and financial stability.

The project’s final public event took place in Milan on the 17 October 2024 and highlighted key aspects of the project:

1. Promoting Social Procurement: Encouraging mainstream businesses to consider SEEs as suppliers, thus driving more business to social enterprises.

2. Creating Partnerships: Building collaborations that can leverage the strengths of both SEEs and mainstream businesses for mutual benefit and greater social impact.

3. Increasing Awareness: Raising awareness among mainstream businesses about the benefits of working with SEEs and the value they bring.

One of the outcomes of the project is this Buy Social B2B Good Practices Report which outlines five exemplary case studies from distinct countries, with well-established collaborations between social economy enterprises (SEEs) and mainstream enterprises in Belgium, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. Throughout the process of conducting interviews and gathering data, several important elements surfaced, primarily revolving around the origin of partnership creation, its consequential impact and its value. Significant attention was also dedicated to identifying and addressing obstacles impeding further development of these partnerships or posing challenges within existing collaborations. The resolution of these challenges greatly influences the potential for the transferability and replicability of such initiatives.

There has been a specific focus on sectors linked to the circular economy, including textile recycling, fashion, energy and eco-design. The report shows the importance of strengthening partnerships between social enterprises and mainstream business to improve the market for social enterprises’ products and services, foreseeing more business agreements between for profit and SEs, to increase new valuable business relations, improve the competitiveness and commercial capacity of the social enterprises and increase the understanding of social economy organisations’ impact and making them more visible for B2B.

Interesting terminology coming out from the report includes the concept of the social relationship model (SRM), which is a huge opportunity for the social enterprise sector across Europe to be aware of opportunities presented to them by the shared value approach these companies are adopting. This can be seen especially, but not only, in rural areas.

Successful partnerships can be developed across all kinds of social impact fields, for instance in sustainable tourism, co-working, education, skilling-up or employability, including in initiatives specifically targeting rural depopulation.

Read more about the case studies in the report or check out the project website!