This co-operative group was established in 2008 by six immigrants from Africa. The venture engages in promoting and supplying Afro-European clothing. It is a fashion design business that mixes African and European fabrics to create beautiful clothing. In the summer of last year, the venture organized a fashion fair in which they exhibited a rich […]
Celebrating the success of the co-operative cuppa
Tea is enjoyed by many people many times a day. So it’s refreshing to know that thanks to Essential Trading you can choose a cuppa that will make a real difference to the livelihoods of thousands of people involved in co-operative, biodynamic tea production. Egypt is not the first country that springs to mind when […]
Oxfam partners with Armenian coops
Armenias mountainous expanses are home to many historical treasures, including the first church in the world to be built by the state. Indeed Armenia was the first country to recognise Christianity. It has, and has retained, its own unique alphabet. For all its ancient and historical treasures, this Eastern European nation has a high altitude […]
GRUPPO MEZZACORONA
Gruppo Mezzacorona arose from the merger of the Cantina Sociale (founded in 1904) and the Lega fra Viticoltori (founded in 1911) in 1970, the first merger of two cooperatives in Italy. The group now manages 2800 hectares of vineyard in the Italian region Trentino Alto Adige and an additional 1000 hectares in Sicily. Mezzacorona operates […]
Cooperativa A.L.P.I. scs
In Trento, Italy, the Work Training through Individualized Projects Cooperative (A.L.P.I.) makes lifelong links with disadvantaged community members. A.L.P.I.’s mission is to prepare individuals who have mental and physical disabilities to participate in the workforce.To reach that goal, the cooperative provides guided, hands-on job training. A.L.P.I.’s business model is straightforward. It contracts with local firms […]
Organopónico Vivero Alamar – Cuba
Cuba used to have an industrialized agricultural system, exporting sugar and citrus to Russia and importing most of its food, as well as oil, machinery, fertilizers and pesticides. Then the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, which combined with a US trade embargo created a crisis that Fidel Castro named “The Special Period”. Suddenly cut off […]
Kokua Market
Last year, Hawaiis only food retail cooperative celebrated its 40th birthday. Founded in 1971 by a group of Honolulu residents who wanted access to high-quality, minimally processed, natural foods, Kokua Market has grown over the years and now operates a 4,400 square-foot retail space, with 3,500 member-owners, 43 employees and annual gross sales of $3.3 […]
Miel Mexicana Volcan Popocatépetl
When the Miel Mexicana Volcan Popocatépetl cooperative was founded in 2001, its members produced just 3 tonnes of honey. Now it exports over 500 tonnes of certified organic and fair-trade honey to 10 different countries every year. Though the cooperative works in ten Mexican states, it is based in Morelos, in southern Mexico, and most […]
Stanford Cooperative Houses
Cooperative living has been an integral part of Stanford University’s residential system for the last 41 years. It’s been an integral part of my life for the last four years, and this is what coops mean to me. Cooperative living, to me, means sharing ownership and responsibility not just for a building, its supplies, and […]