COOP has been a good neighbour for 15 years

Co-op Hungary celebrated its 15th birthday in Budapest’s Palace of Arts in November. Nearly 1,000 business partners, colleagues and friends showed up and in the following you can read excerpts from some of the congratulating speeches.

Lajos Csepeli, member of Co-op Hungary Zrt.’s Board of Directors

‘One of today’s important messages is that we are here to celebrate our 30,000 colleagues, who do their work in the shops today as well, and the 1.5 million customers who visit our shops daily. Just like in the past, in the future we will place great emphasis on supporting initiatives that aim at preserving our national identity. COOP also helps when trouble comes: this year we allocated significant resources for helping the victims of the flood and the red sludge.’

László Murányi, Co-op Hungary Zrt.’s CEO

‘COOP’s development has been constant since the beginnings in 1995. The number of shops kept growing because the founding owners have been dedicated and because in 2002 the group decided to establish the franchise system, which made it possible for numerous small and medium-sized shops to join the network. Latest research data reveal that 85-90 percent of products on the shelves of COOP stores are Hungarian, most of them are manufactured by SMEs. Hereby I would like to thank the 15-year cooperation and support of employees, owners, suppliers and other business partners.’

Béla Tóth, president-CEO of Gyermely Zrt.

‘We have been doing business with the people at Coop for 40 years because they had already been here before the company was founded 15 years ago. Our relationship has always been harmonic as we share the same values. It is important to know and love one’s trade, to respect colleagues and take into consideration business partners’ interests. People at Coop, be strong, believe in yourself, be brave and wise in the future too, in order to undertake and successfully complete great tasks!’

Sándor Demján, executive president of VOSZ

‘Dear Friends! I feel like being the product of a cooperative myself. It was in this system where I learned what a manager and economic leader should know. The slogan that a product is Hungarian is not enough in itself: we need to make Hungarian products internationally competitive, in terms of both price and quality. COOP is a successful team that learned how to cooperate in the new market environment and I am sure they will be successful in the future too.’

Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary

‘Coop’s fifteen-year progress proved that in the long run it is worth to be honest. The value of a retail chains is not exclusively defined by an audit firm, but also by shoppers, suppliers, employees and owners. If we would like to live in a successful country, we will need more enterprises like Coop in the future. It is time politics understood that economy is not an abstract concept, but it is you, real people who want to work, who think long-term and have the necessary persistence, knowledge and diligence. I wish Coop fruitful work and satisfied associates enterprises, suppliers, employees and customers.’