Up & Coming 2024!

We are so excited to welcome you to Kalamazoo, Michigan, for the 2024 Up & Coming Conference, September 12-14th. Join us to learn from experts, connect with peers, build community, and kick start your next year of food co-op development.
FCI is partnering with communities across the country to support and guide them as they develop and open thriving co-op grocery stores. Our collective work depends on the financial support of donors like you. Donate today to help a new co-op open tomorrow.

New FCI Action Guide:

Converting your grocery store to a co-op

Grocery stores across the country are for sale, at risk of closing, or have an owner who is thinking about retiring in the near future. Converting a grocery store into a co-op is a great option that more and more grocers, employees, and communities are considering. Food Co-op Initiative, the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University and experts Stuart Reid and Bonnie Hudspeth have joined forces to develop a new FCI Action Guide to help you understand the conversion process and the steps involved.

2023 IMPACT Report is out now!

In honor of Bill Gessner, cooperative hero and primary creator of the Four Cornerstones in Three Stages Food Co-op Development model, the food co-op community is proud to make an annual award to recognize excellence in food co-op development.

Are you working to start a co-op grocery store?

Food Co-op Initiative provides exceptional resources for people in the U.S. working to start a retail food cooperative that meets the needs of their community. New startups can use our materials at no charge and our staff is available for phone consultations and additional technical help.

Resource Library

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FCI Classroom

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Resource Library

Whatever information you need, you’ll probably find it in our library: guidebooks, templates, recorded training events, and much more. Plus, all of FCI’s resources are available to you at no cost (donations are gratefully accepted).

Check out our library

Upcoming Events

Classes, workshops, and conferences are vital ways our co-op community learns and grows. Search our calendar for upcoming opportunities to learn more about starting your food co-op.

Calendar of Events

FCI Classroom

Designed for working boards and organizers of startup food co-ops: learn critical development skills in our virtual classroom. Register at any time, then learn at your own pace. FCI staff follows your progress, provides feedback on homework, and answers your questions.

See FCI Classroom offerings

‘This Could Be Ours’ is here

Jon Steinman, author of Grocery Story — The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants, in collaboration with FCI, brings you a photo collection of food co-ops from his American book tour. If you’re a food co-op organizer, this is the resource you have always wanted to have! Show people in your community what a modern food co-op can be with this 144-page book of nearly 300 images. See examples of food co-op exteriors, interiors, displays, co-op board voting stations, community-giving initiatives, local food maps, food producer signage, member engagement strategies, bike racks, ideas for acknowledging member lenders in-store, conventional-natural product integration ideas, recycling ideas, and more. View the PDF.

Marketing and Messaging Guide

Marketing & Messaging Guide

Strategic shifts in messaging. Multi-channel campaigns. They will greatly impact your co-op’s initial sales, and they need to be planned well in advance of your store’s opening. To equip startups to meet this challenge, Firebrand Cooperative has released this NEW tool in partnership with Food Co-op Initiative.  

Understand (and plan) your store’s strategic messaging — from three months prior, up through the day you open your doors. The guide includes:

  • Building a successful plan: budgeting, vendor/partners, and messaging
  • Marketing channels: which channels, when, for what messages
  • Key messaging: be proactive as your message shifts and your audience broadens
  • Campaign planning matrix: build, manage, and coordinate the many components of your store opening plan
  • Plus tips for keeping the marketing magic going after opening, well into those first critical months

The FCI Guide to Starting a Food Co-op

As an organizer working to start a food co-op, you’ve likely asked yourself But where do I start? FCI’s Guide to Starting a Food Co-op is the answer! This guide is a comprehensive overview of the development process, covering essential topics like getting incorporated, writing a business plan, growing your ownership, capital campaigns, and even preparing to hire a general manager. Your entire organizing team will find this resource invaluable as you work towards the day you get ‘doors on the store’. Available in English and Spanish.

FCI has helped over 175 food co-ops open successfully.

Our methods are tested. We can help you too.

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4-in-3 Development Model

FCI uses the Four Cornerstones in Three Stages development model to help frame the critical stages of development and keep the focus on what really matters.

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The Seven Cooperative Principles

Seven Principles guide cooperative businesses all over the world. Learn more about the shared values and these seven principles.

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Free Resources & Support

As of 2022, Food Co-op Initiative has seen 175 new retail food co-ops open in the U.S. Every store is unique, but they all share a belief in the Seven Cooperative Principles and the pride that community ownership can bring.

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