SPAR Italy Partner Aspiag Service achieves ISO 45001 certification

September 18, 2020 IN THE CATEGORY: Health, People, Store openings, Supply Chain

The SPAR Italy Partner for the Northeast and Emilia-Romagna, Aspiag Service, continually strives to ensure the best working environment in all of its operations, including SPAR stores, the Distribution Centres and head office. This commitment, already recognised when the company obtained the OHSAS 18001 certification ten years ago, has been reconfirmed with the new ISO 45001 certification.

The new standard confirms the company has an optimal Management System for Health and Safety in the workplace. Obtained by Aspiag Service within a very short time, this is the first business in the regions of Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige to be certified based on new rules. The new standard is aimed at fostering continuous improvement throughout the company, working with procedures and using best practice to ensure health and safety at all operation levels. Sharing practices and involving all company levels are the main new elements introduced by the standard.

Francesco Montalvo, General Manager of Aspiag Service, declared: “The path to health and safety in the workplace is built on the pillars of knowledge, sharing of information and continuous implementation of our corporate culture.  What I wish to underline today is our commitment to building this virtuous chain. We achieved this certification rapidly, reviewing all our internal procedures during the challenging lockdown months. We believe that it is strategically very important to define and implement new standards, right when the need and importance of such standards appears to be greater than ever.”

Aspiag opens 80th SPAR store in the region Friuli Venezia Giulia

To top off a successful summer, Aspiag Service celebrated the opening of its 80th SPAR store in the region: a DESPAR Supermarket in Fogliano Redipuglia, near Gorizia, a town with 3,000 inhabitants. The 751m2 DESPAR store, with 260m2 of fresh sections, comprises several served counters, such as meat, fish, and delicatessen.

The team of 17 colleagues running this store is comprised of eight experienced people relocated from existing SPAR Supermarkets and nine new hires. To ensure the stores that facilitated staff relocation are running with the right team complement, 11 new people have been hired to replace the eight people transferred to this new DESPAR Supermarket.  The new store features sustainable equipment, such as refrigeration units with energy saving doors, where residual heat from the cooling units is used for the store’s heating system.

“The importance of a retail store for its local community has never been so clear: when a new store opens its doors, a new relationship with its local community develops. We will continue in our engagement to support our local communities, their social activities and initiatives”, Francesco Montalvo, Managing Director of Aspiag Service, commented on the opening.

Source: DESPAR Italia

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About SPAR Italy

SPAR Italy was first granted the licence to operate the SPAR Brand in 1959. The first store opened in the latter part of 1960 and with it, SPAR became the first partnership of retailers and wholesalers to operate in the country. SPAR Italy, known locally as DESPAR Italia, licenses regional partners, all of whom work together to grow the brand across the country.

The DESPAR Partners operate stores under three formats: DESPAR Neighbourhood Supermarkets, EUROSPAR Supermarkets and INTERSPAR Hypermarkets. Many of the larger format stores are company-owned, reflecting the scale of investment required. While the majority of the company’s turnover is acquired through these larger format stores, the independently owned neighbourhood supermarkets remain a key part of the business.