Sometimes it’s said that if you don’t like the way something works, then either do it yourself or come up with a better way.
I’ve been on my soap box talking about the egregious behaviour of the corporations that own and operate our biggest national grocery chains. My biggest point of contention has to do with the massive profits they’ve been ringing up ever since the COVID pandemic rolled into town, and the profits they continue to make during a time of higher inflation. In another time, this would be called profiteering, but others might view this as crafty capitalism at work. Taking advantage of people when they’re hurting is pretty tough, though.
Imagine if we were to have another choice?
That’s where co-op grocers come in. Another way of tackling food prices and bringing them to heel. They do it in Western Canada, in Eastern Canada, but no so much in Central Canada. It’s an interesting and affordable idea that makes owners out of shoppers and gives them a stake in the operation of the store/business.
The concept is a simple one. You buy a membership, sometimes as low as $10 and almost always lower than $100. While anyone can shop at the store, the membership gives you a stake and a discount when buying your own groceries. If you choose to work at the store for a couple of hours a month, you get credited with further discounts on your grocery bill for the next month. If you work more than a couple of hours, the credit is banked to be applied to a future month’s discount or it can gather steam and be paid out as equity.
One co-op in Toronto says it can bring prices down by a third and has been doing so for years. Its members pay $80/year, but the savings accrued on their grocery bill more than make up for the membership fee and provide additional savings over time. It was estimated that all members make their $80 back in the first month, some even in the first week, when they shop at the co-op rather than one of the big grocery chains.
I have to admit that I don’t have the chops to get something like this going locally or even regionally, but I do have the chops to pop down eighty bucks to be able to save a ton on my groceries. I bet I’m not alone in that.
I also don’t know how many members would be needed to make this feasible in our area given our relatively large distances and small populations. But they do it out west somehow, and they seem to be doing a pretty fair job of it, so it looks like it can be done.
Whether it happens or not remains to be seen, I guess, but the idea is a good one. People, working together, taking something into their own hands for their own benefit and for the benefit of others.
NEWSMAGRENFREW 