COOP hits the 20-year mark

On 18 November 2015 retail chain COOP celebrated its 20th birthday in Budapest venue Müpa. Lajos Csepeli, chairman of CO-OP Hungary Zrt.’s board of directors told in his speech that what they were really celebrating is the success of joining forces. He added that the world of retail is a special environment where great things can be achieved but everyone has to face great challenges. COOP is strong enough to compete with multinational retail chains. Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga was also there in Müpa to congratulate COOP on those successful 20 years. He underlined in his speech that the retail chain is one of the most important actors in Hungary’s economy. It is key that 80 percent of products available in COOP stores are processed in Hungary. CO-OP Hungary Zrt. CEO Géza Tóth spoke about the challenges of the last 20 years and how the company managed to overcome them. He stressed that COOP does its best to be a family-friendly workplace as there are lots of women working for the company. Dr Zoltán Zs. Szőke, president of the ÁFEOSZ-COOP Association shed light on the importance of cooperatives: all over the world there are 1 billion people working in cooperatives, Mr Zs. Szőke said that ‘this many people can’t be wrong.’ Ferenc Bodrogai, managing director of long-time COOP supplier Forest Papír Kft. thanked the cooperation of the last 20 years and wished lots of success to COOP in the years to come. Bence Szabó, secretary general of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) told that COOP has been sponsoring the Hungarian Olympic movement since 1996 and has supported MOB even in the most difficult periods.