CONCORDIA Bakery – SC CONCORDIA DEVELOPMENT SRL

CONCORDIA Humanitarian Organization is an independent, non-governmental and non-profit organization, active at international level, whose mission is to support families in difficulty and the social (re)integration (family, school, professional) of children, young people and adults, towards an autonomous and responsible life. If at the beginning the organization provided services in placement and shelter for street children, the organization later developed projects of independent living, vocational education and professional counseling, culminating in the establishment of social enterprises designed to directly support the integration into the labor market of young beneficiaries

In CONCORDIA, at national and international level, social affairs are seen as a strategic and effective direction in fulfilling the organization’s mission to help young people in need become autonomous and independent. Thus, through the social business structures, the organization aims both to increase employment opportunities for vulnerable young people by ensuring their access to other social support services, training and independent living skills, and to ensure a minimum of 50% of the costs of these enterprises from their operating profit. In addition, through these initiatives, CONCORDIA aims to engage in lobbying and advocacy activities to strengthen the social entrepreneurship sector in Romania.

The idea to set up CONCORDIA Bakery in 2011 was a natural step in the evolution of the organization and came in the context in which, a year before, in 2010, the Organization laid the foundations of the CONCORDIA Vocational School. CONCORDIA Bakery started in a small workshop in the village of Ariceștii Rahtivani, Prahova county, where Andreas Resch, an Austrian volunteer, organized a bakery workshop for children of all ages in the residential center. What was originally an additional activity soon became a clear possibility for some children and young people that it could be a future occupation.

CONCORDIA Bakery aims to support the socio-professional integration of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, and young graduate bakers who fail to integrate into the labor market thus have the opportunity to work in a competitive bakery in which to gain experience and be a launching pad for the free market.

Until 2021, the Bakery hired over 40 of the graduates of the bakery class organized within the CONCORDIA Vocational School. The bakery does not hire young people from outside CONCORDIA.

Training young people in the manufacturing stages – from dough modeling to baked bread – has shown that there is an inherent need for a place where they have the chance to prepare for the work they want to do, discovering its potential and developing both from a professional and a social perspective. CONCORDIA Bakery was born at the crossroads between realizing an idea and satisfying a growing need.

CONCORDIA Bakery has two objectives:

  • The social objective is the socio-professional integration of young people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The establishment of the Bakery aimed to create a long-term social impact on young people who, after graduating from the bakery course and obtaining the diploma of qualification, were employed for a temporary period in the company.
  • The business objective is to generate profit that will be used to support the training of other young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who need support.

CONCORDIA Bakery has implemented the ISO 9001: 2015 quality management and food safety management systems FSSC 22000 (version 4.1) and is one of the successful models of social business in Romania. 

This is also reflected in the awards obtained over time: ERSTE Foundation Award for Social Integration (2011), NESsT Romania – Social Enterprise Competition (2013) and “METRO – Community Stars” (2014), Prahova Community Foundation Gala – Social Business (2016).

Contact information Bakery CONCORDIA – SC CONCORDIA DEVELOPMENT SRL