What's a Coop?

A coop is simply a business entity owned and managed by its members. A group of people get together, pool some money (called equity), and purchase whatever goods they want at a lower price than going elsewhere, since there are no profits to be skimmed off. The first Coop was just that. Twenty-eight people got together to form the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers on Toad Lane in Rochdale, England on October 24, 1844. The shop's first products were sugar, butter, flour, oatmeal, and tallow candles. That location is now a coop museum, but the coop itself still exists, and there are now millions of people worldwide who are coop members. There are 47,000 consumer cooperatives in the United States alone.

We own it

Coops are democratically-owned and operated ventures, with their number one purpose being to provide goods and services as economically and efficiently as possible. As locally-owned businesses, coops have a commitment to the people they serve and the communities they are in. And because they are member-owned and operated, one of the principals they follow is a commitment to a limited return on investment. Coops either aim their markups so as not to have profits, or they return the profits to members as patronage dividends (setting aside, of course, sufficient funds to meet capital needs for the long-term sustenance of the coop). No outside owner takes the profits outside of the community--money kept in communities make them stronger. Coops are open to anyone who wants to join; they are not private clubs. Non-discrimination is one of the oldest coop principles.

Count Chocula? Just say NO!

Coops also mean that the members have a voice in what is sold to them. Many parents dread going to traditional supermarkets, especially with their children. It seems as though armies of people must lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling, thinking of bizarre and unhealthy products that they can advertise to kids, who in turn beg for these products at every shopping expedition. Chocolate marshmallow breakfast cereal! Juice beverages that are 50% sugar water! At the Flatbush Food Coop, such products are not stocked. Since our Coop is not profit-driven, the interests of members come first. Food dollars go further when high-profit, over-processed, nutritionally-barren foods are eliminated.

There are many types of cooperatives. The Flatbush Food Coop is a grocery store, and probably the most visible type of coop. The Flatbush Food Coop sells to everyone, not just members. Members get discounts of varying sizes, depending on whether they do work hours for the coop. Some coops sell only to members. There are also cooperative banks, known as credit unions, wholesalers, insurance companies, housing, day care, health care, agricultural marketing--in fact, any business can be set up as a coop. The Flatbush Food Coop belongs to, and is a member of several cooperative distributorships.

The coop movement is a growing one, as more and more people decide to take control of their lives and economic choices. The Maritime Provinces in Canada are an example of how far the coop movement can go. Cooperative consumer stores buy from cooperative wholesalers, are insured by a cooperative insurance company, and bank at coop credit unions. There are coop day care providers, health care providers, gas stations, film developing labs, even funeral parlors--literally, cooperativism from cradle to grave. Members get the most buying power for their money, and the money stays in the community, contributing to its economic strength.

About the Flatbush Food Coop
Cooperative Organizations
Coop Information on the Web

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