Co-operatives & Co-operation

Workers co-opertives, Organiclea and direct marketing

Workers Co-operatives

Worker co-operatives have the objective of creating and maintaining sustainable jobs and generating wealth, in order to improve the quality of life of the worker-members, dignify human work, allow workers’ democratic self-management and promote community and local development. (CICOPA/ICA, 2005.)

Workers co-operative principles

Voluntary and open membership

Democratic member control

Member economic participation

Autonomy and independence

Education, training and information

Co-operation among co-operatives

Concern for community

Organiclea - who are they?!

Organiclea are a workers co-operative with 15 members, based in East London. We grow and sell fresh, local, organic fruit and veg, and train others to do the same. We see this as a practical step towards creating more socially and environmentally just society.

North East London

What do we do - Production

What do we do - Distribution

What do we do - Training

What do we do - Outreach

What do we do - System Change

History of Organiclea

Start small and grow slowly!

What does being a co-op mean?

Direct Marketing

"The biggest failing of the organic movement has been its failure to

establish substantial alternatives in distribution"

Box Scheme

Benefits:

Guaranteed weekly income

Commitment from consumers

Producer has choice over what is harvested and sold each week

Disadvantages:

Box packing and transport is time consuming

Time spend on customer administration and ordering produce.

Pick-up points

Farmers markets

Benefits:

Offer good opportunities to connect with your customers

Good way to recycle and reduce waste in a bigger system (we can sell here extra produce from the box scheme for example.

Good way to trail new ideas

Low investment capital

Flexibility in what you produce and sell

Difficulties:

Can be a lot of work (harvesting, transporting and selling) for little returns.

Risk of waste

Depends on location and changeable factors like the weather.

Farm Shops

Benefits:

Don’t need to travel.

Low waste because you can harvest for the needs of the shop

Can be integrated with other household or farm activities

Possible to stock wide range of goods and offer greater convenience to customers (which can also be a disadvantage!)

Difficulties:

Can take a lot of time, depending on your model.

Time spent managing staff, stock control and administration

Can require high investment capital to start.

Restaurants

Benefits:

Good way to sell small amounts of high value things

Difficulties:

Transport can be time consuming and costly.

Restaurants can be fickle

Mail Order

Benefits:

A large market can be accessed because there are no geographical restrictions.

Low investment capital and overheads.

Difficulties:

Greater food miles – although you can take advantage of existing distribution systems

Success relies on promotion nationwide – which can be expensive

Can be packing lots of small orders.

Community Supported agriculture

Benefits:

Commitment from consumers

Guaranteed income

Producer has choice over what is harvested and sold each week

Disadvantages

Need to be productive to keep customers happy.

Need to grow a wide range of crops over a long period of time.

Transport can be time consuming.

Principes of Organiclea’s Distribution:

Salad is the key Close the CircleCommunity and Co-operationObserve and EvaluateEggs in Many BasketsLocal food SystemAppropriate technologyDiversity in Growing, Simplification at marketReliabilityKnow your limitsPumpkin properganda