Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit created by the greater food co-op community to assist communities starting new co-ops across the United States. Our resources, consultation, and services are free. We partner with other organizations to provide training, reference materials, and support networks that help new co-ops open successful stores.
Startup food co-ops come in many forms. We work with people seeking retail storefronts in small rural towns, large urban food deserts, commuter towns, and suburbs of every size. Some want an all-natural emphasis, others just want food—any food other than what convenience stores offer. The idea of healthier options is defined by the community being served.
Local ownership and local democratic control set a cooperative grocery store apart from other grocers. Food co-ops are formed to meet the needs of their community, not to achieve maximum dividends for shareholders. A common thread among these diverse cooperative stores is the desire to serve their community with healthy choices, food and wellness education, and a place to call their own.
Since we began our work in 2005, FCI contributed to over 175 new co-ops being opened and we continue to support about 100 active development efforts at any given time. Interest has grown in communities of color in city neighborhoods where they have been historically disenfranchised and lack access to nearby grocery stores. Likewise, small towns in rural American have been losing their independent grocery stores at accelerating rates and are looking at the cooperative model as a means to assure continued access to food and a community hub. Co-ops enable people everywhere to take control of food access to meet their needs.
FAQ
- Consumer cooperatives are NOT charitable organizations. Profits from the business are reinvested or returned to the owners through patronage rebates.
- Most co-ops are open to the public—you do not need to be an owner (member) to shop.
- Most co-ops do not ask for or require any form of “volunteer” labor from their owners (members).
- Co-ops are not a new phenomenon. The business model we use now has its origins in Rochdale, England in 1844. Co-ops in various forms have been in existence in the U.S. since our independence.
