Italy: the success of green companies
They succeed better in every sector
Symbola (the Italian Foundation for Quality) and Cloros (company providing assistance to enterprises in the field of energy) have recently released a report on Italian companies. The sectors taken into consideration were four, i.e. automation, food, house furniture and clothing.
The document highlights the great performance of green companies compared to their "less eco-friendly" competitors. In fact, between 2009-2013 - the darkest period of economic crisis - green companies' turnover had a 3,5 % average growth against the 2% of others. Furthermore, green companies have not failed anyone and have continued to export on international markets.
The title of the report "Certify as the first step to grow" already tells about the results of the analysis. Namely, those companies owning a "green certification" have better chance to succeed. And this statement seems true not only for the international market, but also for the domestic one, where local authorities are more inclined to simplify bureaucratic requirements for the green companies.
Today, environmental certifications are 450 all over the world. Averagely, 12 new ones come out every year, differentiating according to the sector and production volume.
Italy seems to play a pivotal role in this sector. In fact, some of the most innovative certification brands were conceived in the Bel Paese, such as "Friend of the Sea". The latter is a fishing brand, essential to enter the great distribution. Moreover, the brand "Green" (specific for big companies) is the most diffused all over the world. Also the certification "Emas" is Italian and it is one of the most popular.
The main obstacle - as highlighted by Ermete Relacci, Symbola President - is to change Italian entrepreneurs' conception of certifications. In fact, they mostly think about them as a bureaucratic task to carry out instead of looking at them as a competitive advantage to use. Finally, it is essential to educate entrepreneurs on the great variety of options available that better fit their business and making it successful, domestically and abroad.
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