What is a Coop?: http://www.coopdirectory.org

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http://www.coopdirectory.org

 

Coop Directory Service: Find A Natural Food Coop Near You

 

In Memory of Kris Olsen

The Coop Directory Service (CDS) is dedicated to the memory of

Kris Olsen (1946-1998) and his life-long effort to introduce people to

natural food co-ops and assist them in starting buying clubs.

The Coop Directory Service is an online source of information

about natural food co-ops. If you know of anyone that is interested in food

coop information please feel free to pass on our addresses and phone

numbers:

Coop Directory Service

1254 Etna Street, St. Paul, MN 55106

Phone and Fax: 651-774-9189

E-mail address: thegang

Please note that the Coop Directory Service is a web-based

service. All the information we have about co-ops is on this site. Please

don't call or write us with further questions until you have thoroughly

searched the site.

We wish to thank Seward Community Co-op, the San Francisco Herb

Company and the Atlantic Spice Company for their financial support of this

service.

If you know about natural food co-ops (what they are,

how they operate, etc.) you may want to go directly to

Coop Directory Service Listing

List of Coop Distributors

If you need to know more about what

a food co-op is, you may want to go to

What Is A Coop? What Is A Buying Club?

If you want to explore other things offered on this site, you

may want to click on one of these links

a.. Kris Olsen Memorial a.. Other Information

b.. Some Of Our Favorite Links

a.. Coop History

a.. More about Coop Directory Service

 

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Website last updated: October 22, 2005 10:53 PM

 

 

Help us keep our information up-to-date

SUBMIT UPDATE TO COOP DIRECTORY LISTING

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What Is A Coop?

In the loosest sense, a co-op is any voluntary organization composed

of a group of individuals (or organizations) formed for their mutual

(generally, financial) benefit. A familiar example is a group of roommates

who rent an apartment together to save money.

 

These informal associations and the more formal ones discussed below

all share a number of common features.

 

a.. They all are democratic, volunteer associations.

 

b.. They are formed for mutual financial benefit (to save money or

to increase buying power); in short, they are businesses.

 

c.. They have no owners other than their members.

 

d.. They are non-profit organizations; what would be profit in other

organizations is returned to the member/owners.

 

Coops are all around us - they are everywhere! They include:

 

a.. Credit unions

 

b.. Mutual insurance companies (Invented by Ben Franklin in 1752)

 

c.. Housing co-ops

 

d.. Rural electric power co-ops

 

e.. Consumer goods co-ops (REI comes to mind)

 

f.. Distribution coops (Ace Hardware)

 

g.. Producer co-ops (Sunkist, Land'O Lakes)

 

For more information on the various types of co-ops in the US and

around the world check out the National Cooperative Business Association and

the International Cooperative Alliance sites.

 

The CDS is dedicated to promoting one form of consumer co-op, namely

the natural food co-op. These natural food co-ops deal primarily with food

products that are " natural " – those produced with a minimum of processing

and with little or no additives or preservatives (much of this food is also

organically grown).

 

There are three types of natural food coops that CDS deals with:

 

BUYING CLUBS - these are (generally) informal organizations of

friends, members of church groups, etc. who buy food together from a food

co-op warehouse.

 

COOP GROCERY STORES – much like a buying club except that they are

(generally) formal co-op corporations often with thousands of member/owners.

It must be emphasized that you do not have to be a member of the food co-op

to shop in these stores.

 

COOP DISTRIBUTORS - These supply their members/owners (including

buying clubs and grocery stores) with food. Until last year all of the

distributors we list were, themselves, co-ops owned by their

member/customers. Due to unbearable market forces one of them folded and two

others sold out to a private firm – the remaining two have not as of this

writing, succumbed. With, as they say, a heavy heart we will provide links

to these commercial warehouses as long as they continue to support sales to

co-op buying clubs.

 

Otherwise, each of these coops are non-profit organizations formed by

people to provide low cost healthy food primarily to members of their

organization.

 

What Is A Buying Club?

The short answer is: a group of people who buy food together from a

Coop Distributor.

 

The long answer is: to really know what a buying club is requires

knowledge of how it operates.

 

Typically, they are composed of seven or more families, who share the

chores of collecting money from the member families, placing the order with

the distributor, helping unload the truck when it arrives at the drop-off

site and dividing up the individual orders.

 

How Can I Find One Near Me?

Look for one listed on the Coop Directory. If you can't find one near

you, then contact your regional Coop Distributor and ask them if they can

give you information about a buying club in your area. Sometimes they will

take your name and pass it on to the local buying clubs who may elect to

contact you.

 

Please appreciate that many buying clubs consider themselves private

organizations that want to be careful about accepting new members.

 

Note many of the distributors allow you to link to a location on their

site that will lead you to a buying club near you.

 

How To Start And Run A Buying Club

What resources are available to help me do this?

 

The basic rule is very simple --- contact the Coop Distributor in your

area and follow their advice.

 

Note that the number of buying clubs in the US is probably over twenty

times the number of food co-op storefronts. These buying clubs are a very

important source of business for the Coop Distributor. Most have customer

service representatives that are dedicated to servicing the needs of buying

clubs. You may want to follow their procedures for locating and perhaps

joining an existing buying club.

 

In fact, if you want to start your own buying club it is highly

recommended that you join an existing club temporarily to " learn the ropes. "

 

Some other resources on starting buying clubs and grocery stores are

available:

 

A nice collection of tips on running a buying club has been provided

by Blooming Prairie.

 

How To Start A Cooperative Food Buying Club

 

Starting Out Right (Guidelines for Organizing a New Retail

Cooperative) Paperback $7

 

How to Organize and Run a Coop Food Buying Club, video $19

 

Food Buying Club Special : Starting Out Right, paperback , and How to

Organize and Run a Coop Food Buying Club, video $24

 

Consumer Co-ops: Managing a Pre-Order Food Cooperative

 

Some nice (free) software has been developed to assist buying clubs

manage their accounts.

 

If your buying club grows very large and your group is considering

opening a store front (= co-op grocery store), you may want to contact The

North Country Cooperative Development Fund which may provide technical

assistance and loans to your group. Their membership area includes 11 upper

midwestern states.

 

 

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Kris Olsen Memorial

The Coop Directory Service (CDS) is dedicated to the memory of Kris

Olsen (1946-1998) and his life-long effort to help people find natural food

co-ops and start buying clubs.

 

In so doing, Kris fulfilled his special mission to promote food co-ops

among people who knew little or nothing about the natural food co-op system.

 

 

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Other Information

Coop Camps

Circle Pines Center

This is a children's camp and a year round workshop/retreat center for

families, adults and progressive organizations. A registered peace site with

the mission of teaching cooperation. It is sixty years old with a rich

history and a whole foods kitchen.

 

Email circle

 

8650 Mullen Road, Delton MI 49046-0751

Phone (616) 623-5555

FAX (616) 623-9054

 

Mesaba Coop Park

This is a historic rustic camp started mainly by Finnish-Americans in

Northern Minnesota before the Russian revolution. Efforts by some to support

the revolution caused a split in its membership still present today. The

library has a set of the collected works of Lenin. Charming place --- not to

be missed.

 

3827 Mesaba Park Road, Hibbing MN 55746-8551

Phone (218) 262-1350

 

Camp Common Ground

This camp in Vermont is a cooperative, intergenerational camp in its

sixth year. They welcome people of all ages, ethnicity's, shades and

lifestyles. People at camp can be single, single parents, married, unmarried

or same sex couples, roommates, friends, and grandparents - whatever you

consider your family is a family by us. Adults can come with or without

children. Children must bring their own adult.

 

Email ccg

 

RR 1 Box 1347, Shelburne, VT 05482-9107

Phone (800) 482-3670

FAX (800) 430-2667

 

Co-op Camp Sierra

 

Camp is for families, single parent families, and singles. Cooperators

from all over California (and elsewhere) come to relax in the beautiful

Sierra Mountains in July, and at the Russian River in August, enjoying

outings and recreation, socializing, and discussions about issues related to

worker, housing, and consumer cooperatives.

 

Email: coopcamp

 

PMB #415 1442-A Walnut

Berkeley, CA 94709

(510) 595-0873 Berkeley, (888) 708-CAMP (2267)

 

 

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Some Of Our Favorite Links

These are links to sites that may be help you save money, simplify

your life or are just some of our favorites.

 

Food-