Enter Without Knocking EROSKI, 50 years with you 1969-2019 This is a small sample of people who have been part of EROSKI’s history, either as working partners or as consumer partners. To view the stories of each of them, you just have to: 1. Access the option “Increased Reality” in the EROSKI application. 2. Focus on the image of each person. Enter Without Knocking © Eroski, 2019 © of the texts: their authors © of the photographs: their authors © of the translation: William Truini Enter Without Knocking EROSKI, 50 years with you 1969-2019 Artwork made by Belén Moreno for Eroski on the occasion of the company’s 50th anniversary. The ultimate reason for this book is society, the community of people within which we are integrated. The book is dedicated to this com- munity and particularly to the part of society most concerned by what is written in these pages, Eroski’s partners, consumer-partners and workers. These are the true protagonists of Eroski’s history and those who shape reality, Eroski’s and society’s, with each of their daily acts. Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................ 11 Foreword by Agustín Markaide ................................... 14 Foreword by Iñaki Gabilondo..................................... 16 Foreword by José Luis Larrea ..................................... 20 Part 1 THE COOPERATIVE COMPANY 31 1. Regarding the History........................................... 32 1.1. In Praise of the Cooperative Company ............................... 42 The Differential of the Cooperative Company 52 1.2. Act According to the Condition ..................................... 60 The Sovereignty of the Consumer in the Marketplace 69 1.3. A Model That Makes People Better .................................. 76 New Culture for Better Business and Better Jobs 84 1.4. Being a Cooperativist Is Not a Profession............................. 90 Technological Change and Employment 98 1.5. Joining Together to Change Community Values ...................... 104 The Importance of Swimming Against the Current 112 Social Justice and Rights 117 1.6. The Feminine: Worked Equality ................................... 122 Being a Woman, Acquiring a Voice of One’s Own 130 Part 2 THE DISTRIBUTION COMPANY 137 2. The Distribution Sector ........................................ 138 2.1. One Store, All Stores ............................................. 142 Super-cities. The Intelligence of the Territory 150 2.2. Proximity: I Want It Now, I Have It Now ............................ 156 Proximity 163 2.3. Suppliers: A Virtuous Interdependence ............................. 168 The Relationship between Distributors and Manufacturers: In the Case of Les Mousquetaires, the Approaches Are Necessarily Multiple and Different 176 2.4. Sparking Emotions ............................................... 180 Brands: Exploring the Game Board in the Digital Age 188 2.5. Value Chain: Faster, Cheaper, Better ................................ 192 Evolution of the Value Chain 205 2.6. Data Management ............................................... 212 Collaborating to Grow Again 222 2.7. Alliances: Needs Unite Us ......................................... 228 Business Alliances and Competitiveness 234 Part 3 FOR THE CONSUMER 241 3. Foreword ........................................................ 242 3.1. Free and Responsible Choice ...................................... 250 Consuming Differently, Shopping Better 262 3.2. I, Pleasure, Now ................................................. 268 The Feast Is Made for Pleasure 276 3.3. The Footprint We Leave Behind ................................... 278 Fifty Years in Search of Sustainability 286 3.4. A Balanced Diet to Aid Health ..................................... 292 Food and Health 304 Food and Health in the Future 310 3.5. Knowing Each Customer ......................................... 316 With the Advent of Big Data, Has Segmentation Become Redundant? 322 3.6. New Technologies: Promises and Challenges ........................ 332 Innovation 341 How Are We Going to Live if We Don’t Have Time to Live? A Worse World, A Better World 347 Epilogue 353 Enter without Knocking.......................................... 354 Chronology ........................................................ 361 External Authors ................................................... 380 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Artwork by Iñaki Artetxe for Eroski as a corporative gift in the 1990s. This work has many authors: more than sixty people have contribut- ed the thoughts that have created what in the end is an orderly composition. There could have been many more participants, but we have had to adapt to the inevitable limitations of a work such as this. All those of you who have been the protagonists of this history are inscribed in the memory contained in the words of this book. But among those who have contributed to the contents we would like to warmly thank: First of all, our friends who, from the outside, have given us valuable reflections on the issues that matter to us. From the outside, yes, but, as you can see, from a place very close to us. Secondly, to colleagues, associates and friends in Eroski’s trajectory. Some now dedicate themselves to other tasks while others are still active, but all share fresh and creative thinking and the desire to continue building a better future. The different ways of living and feeling Eroski have been reflected in different contributions, and all of them are true and have built this history. We are especially grateful to Elena Sierra for her invaluable work in composing a coherent text based on the many contributions made by others while respecting their messages. And we would not have been able to carry out this project if Constan Dacosta had not guided this collective work through its extensive journey, setting the course, encouraging the participations and or- dering the whole. Thank you all very much. Foreword by Agustín Markaide President of Eroski 15 n anniversary is a propitious moment to celebrate, remember, thank, reflect, project, and also, perhaps, to correct, amend or complete. Fifty years is a significant enough number to pause a bit longer than usual to direct all those views in the right direction and receive in return readings and messages Afor one’s own consumption and, since we’re here, why not, for general gain. We have wished to collect in a book some of the lessons learned and reflections that we the people of Eroski have made over these years. We have also wished to open the book to the learning and reflections of other people outside Eroski, experts in areas and disciplines of great importance who have honored us with their contributions. We have not wanted this anniversary book to be a biography, although it mentions events; nor a tribute, although the invitation to participate in it reflects the appreciation we feel for the contributing authors; nor a hagiography, or something similar, devoid of a critical sense. We have preferred to give priority to reflection in the contents of this book, both our own and others’ ideas on three important aspects of Eroski’s life and being: the cooperative company, the food distribution sector, and the consumer, the recipient and the raison d’être of our action. This book is, like Eroski itself, a collective work, and this can be seen in the result. There is no single way of looking at things, and not only because the book contains visions from very diverse people, many of them unrelated to Eroski and with different conceptual roots, but also because the debate on differences has been a hallmark of this cooperative and this has helped to reinforce a collective project built to withstand shocks, but which is also open to questioning that which already exists and helping it evolve. For this reason, it should be noted that the opinions expressed by the authors represent their own opinions and do not necessarily represent Eroski’s opinion on the matters dealt with. All reflections start with the past, from experience that has ripened with time, but they take on greater meaning if they are projected into the future. Now that we find ourselves, for a moment, in a temporary watchtower, let us look back to recognize ourselves in our history, and then take a step forward and continue to write new pages with what we have learned. Foreword by Iñaki Gabilondo Journalist 17 What Are We Going to Do? e live in the society of bewilderment. Overwhelmed by the depth and speed of changes occurring around us and those we sense are coming, we human beings live in a state of distrust. We see that we are not facing a crisis but rather a “bundle of crises”, as Ignacio WRamonet says, both superficial and profound, which extends from economics and politics to customs and which has dissolved all certainties. Doubts haunt us in every field, and we no longer know how to spend money or how to invest or how to educate our children, or whether, in politics, we still belong to those we consider our own. In all truth, it is not possible to live with a sense of perspective. The First World War was only baptized as such when there was a second war. The protagonist of Stendhal’s The Charterhouse of Parma wondered in bewilderment whether the battle in which he was par- ticipating, and in which he could die, was a minor episode or a historical event. Whether his side was winning or losing. All human life takes place in a fog. And there is nothing more common and more often repeated than the belief that we are witnessing a decisive transformation. In fact, that’s