Following similar openings in Milan and Rome, consumers in Naples now have a store where they can buy the basic food necessities without cash or a bank card.
The 'social supermarket', Arca, l’Emporio della Solidarietà, has opened on a site between Monte di Procida and Bacoli, located a few kilometers from Naples.
Selected less well-off families can conduct their grocery shopping using a special card, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the social services of the two municipalities concerned.
The expenses of these families will be paid by scaling points of the cards delivered to families that will be charged according to the volunteer hours that they put in. Once completed, users will be able to top them up with new volunteer hours, devoted to those who are alone and who need a helping hand.
The store will offer a basket of about a dozen fixed products and always available, including essential products such as pasta, rice, oil, and milk.
The initiative is backed by NGO’s La Casetta Onlus and Foundation Project Arca Onlus and counts on the generosity of many local supporters and merchants.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
