Cooperatives in Germany>>Sectors>>Consumer cooperatives

Consumer cooperatives

In 1889, consumer cooperatives (or rather „consumer societies“) had been defined under the Cooperative Act as „societies for the joint purchase of large quantities of goods to meet existential or economic needs and for selling them in small quantities“. The term „purchase“ not only entails commercial activities in this context. In-house production has traditionally been part of the concept of consumer cooperatives. For example, consumer cooperatives made their own meat products in the past, and they still do so today. Typically, modern consumer cooperatives are founded to provide access to a service or product which is not (or is no longer) available on the market – or at least not in the required form. The same was true in earlier times. The Central Federation of German Consumer Cooperatives reg. assoc. assists in the foundation of new cooperatives.

Consumer cooperatives satisfy needs disregarded by the market, or they create new markets - as illustrated by current attempts to establish gas supply cooperatives across Germany. „Greenpeace energy“ – one of the most recent foundations of a consumer cooperative - has a current membership of more than 18,000 people and plans its own power plants. And the „Tageszeitung reg. coop“ attracts new members who want a newspaper which is independent of large media conglomerates.

But one thing applies to both old and new consumer cooperatives: customers being owners at the same time makes it imperative to achieve the right price/performance ratio and, more importantly, performance of the right quality. A large membership is a typical feature of consumer cooperatives. The legal form of a registered cooperative offers a (or the most) suitable way to practise democratic principles of shared decisionmaking.

The established consumer cooperatives have traditionally supplied the local population in the vicinity with goods, especially the daily necessities of life. They aim to offer products of high quality and freshness and rely on firm contractual ties with local producers and partners from a cooperative background such as EDEKA and REWE. The Weimar consumer cooperative reg. coop has initiated a joint venture with REWE, for example, in which the two organisations hold an equal share. The coop Schleswig-Holstein eG has successfully created its own regional brand „Unser Norden“ to market exclusively produce from northern Germany. For the majority of consumer cooperatives in the new states of eastern Germany, the Zentralkonsum eG acts as the central institution and also runs a number of production facilities.

Consumer cooperatives have been able to survive in the market because of the quality of their products, a purposeful orientation towards both customer demand and purchasing behaviour, and have attracted a great number of regular customers despite fierce competition and the current general attitude that being tightfisted is the cool thing - as one advertising slogan goes. In addition, the idea of rendering a service is greatly emphasised in their relationship with customers.

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