About Altromercato
Altromercato is currently the largest Italian social enterprise dedicated to fair trade.
For decades, it has been committed to building ethical and transparent supply chains, collaborating with cooperatives and producers worldwide to ensure fair conditions and a truly sustainable development model. Its approach is based on a fundamental principle: trade must be a tool for protecting, not exploiting, the planet, its resources, and the people who inhabit it.
Altromercato has always promoted a model based on a triple value: economic, social, and climate justice. This vision translates into daily work that combines environmental responsibility, support for small producers, and a focus on raw material quality. Over time, Altromercato has built a concrete example of how trade can become a positive driver of change.
In recent years, however, the company felt the need to further strengthen and structure its commitment. Not only to respond to new sustainability regulations but also to make the impact generated even more transparent and measurable.
It is precisely with this goal that Altromercato chose to embark on a journey with Up2You, structured around three strategic pillars:
- Calcolo della Carbon Footprint aziendale tramite CliMax, la piattaforma Up2You dedicata alla misurazione delle emissioni.
- Redazione del Bilancio sociale, allineato agli standard GRI e supportato da Choral, la piattaforma per la rendicontazione ESG.
- Allineamento al Regolamento Europeo EUDR, un passaggio cruciale per garantire la piena conformità delle catene di approvvigionamento e tutelare le foreste da pratiche non sostenibili.
Testifying to the value of this journey, Valeria Calamaro, Sustainability and Strategic Marketing Manager at Altromercato, shares:
“Together with the Up2You team, our collaboration on sustainability is multifaceted and essential, even on complex topics like EUDR, the Social Report, or digital support for carbon footprint calculation.”
These words summarize the nature of the partnership well: a joint effort that allows Altromercato to consolidate its role as a pioneer in fair trade, while simultaneously strengthening the tools it uses to measure, manage, and communicate its impact.
What are Altromercato's needs and goals
Although it has always been very active in sustainability, the Altromercato organization felt the need to take a further step forward: to make the numerous practices already in place within the company more structured and measurable.
This need led to the meeting with Up2You, with the goal of transforming a wealth of initiatives and widespread attention into an organic and easily manageable system.
The main needs that emerged concerned three complementary dimensions. Let's see what they are.
Formalizing existing practices.
Many sustainability-related actions were consolidated in the culture and daily processes, but not always gathered in a formal and integrated framework. Evolving them was essential to ensure greater consistency and continuity over time.
Analyzing and measuring impacts.
Over time, it became increasingly important to have structured data to understand where the organization was generating the most value and where, instead, there was room for improvement. Optimizing information collection also allowed for better allocation of available resources and more strategic intervention planning.
Communicating transparently to the outside world
Having a complete and measurable overview of the activities carried out meant being able to communicate the company's commitment to stakeholders, partners, and the community with greater clarity, thereby strengthening the company's credibility.
The journey with Up2You therefore met a precise need: to give more strength, structure, and visibility to sustainability work that had already begun at Altromercato, but which now required tools, methods, and data capable of supporting present and future challenges.
What are the difficulties Altromercato had to face
When Altromercato decided to structure its sustainability journey more organically, some critical issues typical of a complex, multi-product, and multi-channel entity emerged.
Operating mainly in the cocoa and coffee supply chains and collaborating with large companies, the organization found itself having to manage new regulatory requirements and increasing complexity in data collection and management processes.
In particular, the initial difficulties can be summarized in three main areas.
Responding to EUDR regulation requirements
The introduction of the European EUDR Regulation made it necessary to precisely align supply chains, with stringent requirements in terms of traceability and proof of practices adopted against deforestation. For an organization like Altromercato, which works on complex and distributed supply chains, this meant facing an even higher level of detail and control.
Managing large volumes of data
The complexity of Altromercato's operations required a significant effort in collecting and organizing the necessary data: information coming from different supply chains, different channels, and multiple stakeholders. Added to this volume of data were the new information requirements imposed by regulations, making a more structured and digital system essential for efficient work.
Avoiding a complex process
An additional element of concern was the risk of creating compliance and reporting paths that were too burdensome to manage. The goal was not to build a heavy and bureaucratic system, but to define a clear, lean, and sustainable process over time that would facilitate daily work rather than weigh it down.
Addressing these three difficulties was the first step in designing, together with Up2You, a path capable of combining regulatory compliance, structured data management, and operational simplicity.
How the project with Altromercato was developed
The journey started between Up2You and Altromercato was designed to respond in an integrated way to the organization's various needs.
Activities began in April 2025, developing on multiple levels in parallel and involving both management and operational teams. The first phase focused on compliance with the European EUDR Regulation, a fundamental step to ensure full transparency and traceability of supply chains.
At the same time, the path dedicated to the Social Report was launched, starting with an in-depth analysis of sector trends and competitors, necessary to define a solid and updated benchmark.
To align all involved actors and build a common working foundation, an introductory workshop was organized, useful for sharing goals, responsibilities, and timelines. Immediately after, onboarding onto the proprietary Choral platform took place, Up2You's tool dedicated to ESG reporting.
With the support of the Up2You team, Altromercato then validated material topics, a phase that laid the groundwork for reflection on medium-to-long-term sustainability goals, with a five-year strategic horizon. Subsequently, KPIs to be implemented on Choral were defined and the data necessary for drafting the Social Report was collected, which represented the final phase of the journey.
In parallel, work related to the corporate Carbon Footprint calculation was also started via CliMax, Up2You's second proprietary platform. In this case too, the journey began with an introductory workshop, followed by platform configuration during the summer months. Following this, data collection related to Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, necessary to obtain a complete measurement of the environmental footprint, was initiated.
The entire project concluded with the analysis of results, validation of information, and a final discussion session with the Altromercato team, during which useful feedback was shared.
The 4 reasons why Altromercato chose Up2You
In evaluating the ideal partner to structure its measurement, reporting, and regulatory compliance journey, Altromercato identified in Up2You a set of distinctive characteristics capable of meeting its operational and strategic needs.
The needs were manifold: simplifying complex processes, integrating effective digital tools, building a constant and flexible dialogue, and adopting technologies capable of agilely managing large volumes of data. Let's see specifically what they are.
Simple approach
Sustainability often implies managing complex topics, from emission measurement to ESG reporting and regulatory aspects. Up2You stood out for a clear, linear, and simplification-oriented approach: support that allows for addressing structured matters without weighing down processes.
Ease of dialogue with the Up2You team
A particularly appreciated element was the direct and constant relationship with the team. Availability, technical preparation, and the ability to respond promptly to doubts created an effective climate of collaboration, in which every phase of the project was accompanied by timely and competent support.
Intuitive and effective proprietary technologies
The Choral and CliMax platforms represented a decisive added value. Thanks to their intuitive structure and the automation of calculation and data collection processes, Altromercato was able to significantly speed up work and obtain a clearer and more complete view of its sustainability performance.
A young and adaptable environment
Up2You is characterized by a dynamic, flexible, and collaboration-oriented corporate culture. This ability to adapt to client requests and shape processes according to Altromercato's real operational needs facilitated the development of a tailored path that is truly useful to the organization.
