The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives. In today’s world, where corporate decisions are governed by profits and individualism is the norm, cooperation is truly radical. Now is the time to lift up the people-centered businesses at the heart of our communities and economies.
Facts that highlight co-ops’ impact:
- There are more than 30,000 cooperative businesses in the U.S.
- The food co-op communities across the country that own National Co+op Grocers (NCG) work together collectively to strengthen our ability to positively impact our food system and grow the cooperative economy in an inclusive and environmentally regenerative manner.
- Thirty-seven percent of food co-ops’ sales come from organic products (compared to 3% at conventional grocers), and 24% of sales at co-ops are from local products (as opposed to 2% at conventional grocers). Annually, $9 million is collectively donated to local community organizations by NCG co-ops.
- Co-ops work within our supply chain and industry and with the federal government to advocate for product labeling, disclosure of potentially harmful ingredients or contaminants, and protections for workers within our supply chain.
Cooperatively owned brands at Willy Street Co-op:
- Alvarado Street Bakery
- Blue Diamond Nut Thins
- Cabot Creamery
- Chalet Cheese Co-op
- Equal Exchange
- Florida’s Natural
- Frontier Co-op (Aura Cacia, Frontier
& Simply Organic) - Just Coffee
- Kerrygold/Ornua Cooperative
- La Riojana
- Maple Valley Cooperative
- Ocean Spray
- Organic Praire
- Organic Valley
- Prairie Farms Dairy
- Riceland Foods
- Sun-Maid
- Sunsweet Growers Inc.
- Tillamook
- Tine SA Farmer Co-op (Jarlsburg & Ski Queen)
- Welch’s (National Grape Cooperative Association)
- Westby Cooperative Creamery
- Wisconsin Meadows
- Wisconsin Growers Cooperative
Look for the Co-op Trade signs in our stores to find brands cooperatively owned by their workers, farmers, or community.
Learn how food co-ops are revolutionizing the grocery industry to make it work better for people and planet. www.grocery.coop/why-co-ops
