A consumer is a person or organization that uses economic services or commodities.
Fair trade is an institutional arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions. Members of the fair trade movement advocate the payment of higher prices to exporters, as well as improved social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products which are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries, but also consumed in domestic markets most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fresh fruit, chocolate, flowers and gold. The movement seeks to promote greater equity in international trading partnerships through dialogue, transparency, and respect. It promotes sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers in developing countries. Fair trade is grounded in three core beliefs; first, producers have the power to express unity with consumers. Secondly, the world trade practices that currently exist promote the unequal distribution of wealth between nations. Lastly, buying products from producers in developing countries at a fair price is a more efficient way of promoting sustainable development than traditional charity and aid.
A cooperative is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise". Cooperatives may include:
The domain coop is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is intended for the use of cooperatives, their wholly owned subsidiaries, and other organizations that exist to promote or support co-operatives.
A retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. A retailers' cooperative is essentially a group of independently owned businesses that pool their resources to purchase in bulk, usually by establishing a central buying organization, and engage in joint promotion efforts. It is common for locally owned grocery stores, hardware stores and pharmacies to participate in retailers' cooperatives.
The North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is a federation of housing cooperatives in Canada and the United States, started in 1968. Traditionally, NASCO has been associated with student housing cooperatives, though non-student cooperatives are included in its network. NASCO provides its member cooperatives with operational assistance, encourages the development of new cooperatives, and serves as an advocate for cooperatives to government, universities, and communities. NASCO teaches leadership skills, provides information, and serves as a central link in facilitating the fruition of the cooperative vision for students and youth.
The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) is a federation of worker cooperatives in the United States. USFWC was founded at the U.S. Conference of Democratic Workplaces in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May 2004.
Consumers' co-operatives are enterprises owned by consumers and managed democratically which aim at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Consumers' cooperatives often take the form of retail outlets owned and operated by their consumers, such as food co-ops. However, there are many types of consumers' cooperatives, operating in areas such as health care, insurance, housing, utilities and personal finance.
A food cooperative or food co-op is a food distribution outlet organized as a cooperative, rather than a private or public company. Food cooperatives are usually consumer cooperatives, where the decisions regarding the production and distribution of its food are chosen by its members. Like all cooperatives, food cooperatives are often based on the 7 Rochdale Principles, and they typically offer natural foods. Since decisions about how to run a cooperative are not made by outside shareholders, cooperatives often exhibit a higher degree of social responsibility than their corporate analogues.
Co-operative economics is a field of economics that incorporates co-operative studies and political economy toward the study and management of co-operatives.
Cooperative federalism is a school of thought in the field of cooperative economics. Historically, its proponents have included J.T.W. Mitchell, Charles Gide, Paul Lambert, and Beatrice Webb. Many cooperative federations do not endorse cooperative federalism.
Carpet One Floor & Home is a home design retailers' cooperative in North America, New Zealand, and Australia. The organization was founded in 1985 by Howard Brodsky, Alan Greenberg, and Sandy Mishkin. In 2016 Carpet One had over 1,300 stores. Carpet One Floor & Home and its parent, CCA Global Partners, are based in Manchester, New Hampshire and St. Louis, Missouri.
PCC Community Markets is a food cooperative based in Seattle, Washington. With over 58,000 members, it is the largest consumer-owned food cooperative in the United States. Both members and non-members may shop at the retail locations, but members receive certain discounts. The organization currently operates twelve retail locations. Six of the eleven stores are located in Seattle. The West Seattle is closed for redevelopment. It will reopen in mid-to-late 2019. The other six are located in Issaquah, Kirkland, Burien, Bothell, Redmond, and Edmonds.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is a government ministry of India. The Ministry is headed by a minister of Cabinet rank. The current Cabinet Rank Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
A recycling cooperative is an industrial cooperative, co-owned and maintained by either workers or consumers, which specializes in the recycling of various materials. Such cooperatives are either non-profit or not-for-profit; a major theoretical benefit of mass co-ownership is that raw recycled materials can become increasingly and equally distributed among the membership population at a low cost, be it for reusage at home or for reusage in the manufacturing of newer goods or versions of goods to be sold to customers at cheaper prices than would be possible with freshly obtained raw materials. A subset is the business recycling cooperative, which, according to the Northeast Recycling Council, is a group of business in a particular region, which separate recyclable waste, usually produced by their own functions, for prearranged collection by a shared hauler.
The history of cooperatives in the United States extends to pre-independence times. With the exception of credit unions and mutual banking institutions, most cooperatives have held a comparatively light footprint on the economic history of the United States in comparison to the economies of Europe.
Aavin is the trademark of Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited, a Tamil Nadu-based milk producer's union. Aavin procures milk, processes it and sells milk and milk products to consumers.
