About Co-ops

Cooperatives are enterprises that put people at the center of their business.

Cooperatives are business enterprises and thus can be defined in terms of three basic interests:

• ownership
• control
• beneficiary

Only in the cooperative enterprise are all three interests vested directly in the hands of the user.

Cooperatives put people at the heart of their business. They follow a broader set of values. Because cooperatives are owned and democratically-controlled by their members, the decisions taken by cooperatives balance the need for profitability with the needs of their members and the wider interests of the community.