Co-Op 101
Farmers’ Markets vs Food Co-ops: Who wins?
Food co-ops and local farmers’ markets might seem like they would be direct competition against one another. They share the same customer demographics. Often, they provide similar and sometimes identical products. They use many of the same vendors. It makes sense that some would question the viability of both businesses within one community. The reality…
Read MoreCo-op Cafe
Last week, three of our board members attended the Co-op Cafe workshop in downtown Raleigh hosted by CDS Consulting Co-op. It is designed as a roundtable discussion of common themes, issues and strategies surrounding food co-ops. It was well-attended by our local co-ops — Durham Co-op, Weaver Street Market and Chatham Marketplace were present as…
Read MoreThe NC 10% Campaign
[Written by Anne-Marie Kaden. Read her bio at the end of this post. photo source: NC 10% Campaign] Did you know that North Carolinians spend $35 billion on food each year? If we, as a whole, spent just 10% of that money on locally grown food, $3.5 billion dollars would be pumped right back into…
Read MoreFair Trade…What & Why it Matters!
[A special thanks to our Blog Guest Writer, Taylor Lane. You can read more about her at the end of this post. photo source:Fair Trade USA ] “Life’s not fair”…it’s a mantra we’ve repeated to ourselves a thousand times. Most of us heard this as a child, and we’ve even probably recited to our…
Read More6 Ways a Food Co-op Can Change the Economy
I spend quite a bit of time in my role as Outreach Coordinator reading about and researching the cooperative business model and what other cooperatives across the country are doing. I’ll admit that, before being hired, my knowledge about co-ops was limited. As a member of a regional credit union, I knew the basics, but…
Read MoreFirst celebration of Co-op Month a success!
October was the first time (in our short history) that we’ve promoted and celebrated National Co-op month. It provides an opportunity to educate the community about our co-op, and promote the cooperative business model as a tool for building a thriving regional economy. The USDA also has a great blog post about co-op month. Since…
Read MoreCo-ops are Everywhere!
We spent October celebrating Co-op Month in our area of North Carolina, but did you know that the cooperative business model spans across many industries AND across the globe? Or did you know that the UN declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives? (www.2012.coop, the official IYC 2012 global website) To celebrate the IYC,…
Read MoreI love my co-op because….
In honor of Company Shops Market’s Second Anniversary, this co-op asked staff, owners, and customers to tell us why they love their co-op. Check out the great photos and reasons why the people of Burlington, North Carolina love their co-op.
Read More