At the Hotel Tritone, the “Wild Strawberries” Run the Place

By ILO

The Hotel Tritone is owned and run by a social cooperative called Il Posto delle Fragole (Wild Strawberries).

Members of the coop also own a bar and restaurant in what used to be a psychiatric hospital. Most of the members of the group are people with disabilities.

It is an example of the social firm, a form of enterprise that is spreading around the world to enable marginalised groups to participate on their own terms in the economy and society. Italy is the only country with a specific law on social cooperatives and there are over 2300 of them. All are required to employ at least 30% disadvantaged workers. They employ a total of 25,00 disabled people.

(ILO World of Work; no. 45, December 2002)