 | |
| Type | Consumers' Cooperative |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1970 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Sarah Hannigan, General Manager (as of 2016), Sharon Murphy, General Manager (retired in 2016); Mickey Pearson, Board President |
| Products | whole foods, organic food |
| Website | wholefoods.coop |
Whole Foods Co-op is a food cooperative located in Duluth, Minnesota. Founded in 1970 by the members of a food buying club, the grocery is owned by over 10,000 active owners and is a member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association.
In 1970, the Whole Foods buying club was formed by 20 people in Duluth, Minnesota. The club merged with the Community Food Buying Club in 1973. Whole Foods went on to take over the operations of the West End Co-op in 1981, only to see it close two years later. In 2005, the cooperative expanded into a LEED certified building located at 610 E 4th St. [1] Whole Foods was the first retailer in Minnesota and the first cooperative in the nation to receive LEED certification for its building. [2]
After the Minnesota Health Department stopped allowing participants in the WIC program to purchase organic food in 2002, the cooperative offered to cover the difference and take a loss on behalf of its customers, but was refused by Health Department officials. [3] In 2004, Whole Foods began using the IS4C point of sale system for its registers. [4]
In 2006, Whole Foods attained Certified Organic status through the National Organic Program for its operations.
In 2016, Whole Foods Co-op expanded by opening a second location in the Denfeld neighborhood of Duluth, Minnesota.
Whole Foods Market, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A USDA Certified Organic grocer in the United States, the chain is popularly known for its organic selections. As of March 4, 2019, Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in North America and seven in the United Kingdom.
SuperValu, Inc., was an American wholesaler and retailer of grocery products. The company, formerly headquartered in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, had been in business since 1926. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Natural Foods (UNFI).
Lake Superior College (LSC) is a public community college in Duluth, Minnesota. The college offers pre-baccalaureate majors for students interested in transferring to 4-year educational institutions as well as more than 90 certificate, diploma and degree programs in career and technical fields. LSC's Continuing Education/Customized Training division collaborates with area businesses and industry to design specialized opportunities for entry-level and advanced education. While courses are typically offered in traditional classroom and lab settings, LSC also offers over 150 courses via the internet, through its e-campus.
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to good and services.
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. Decisions about how to run a cooperative are not made by outside shareholders, therefore cooperatives often exhibit a higher degree of social responsibility than their corporate analogues.
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
People's Food Co-op or just the People's Co-op is a food cooperative located in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1970 by the members of a food-buying club, the co-op is owned by over 3000 member-owners and is a member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association and the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives.
IS4C or Integrated Systems for Co-ops is a free web-based point of sale software for retail stores initially developed by Tak Tang for the Wedge Community Co-op in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The software utilizes an SQL database and enables tracking of customer purchase totals that cooperatives use in calculating patronage refunds for their members. IS4C and Fannie, its backend management system were written almost exclusively in PHP. IS4C software is used primarily by food cooperatives and has been released under the GNU General Public License. Versions of IS4C have been adopted by Whole Foods Co-op, People's Food Co-op, Alberta Cooperative Grocery, River Valley Co-op, and the Clintonville Community Market Co-op in Columbus, Ohio.
The Wedge Community Co-op or The Wedge is a food cooperative located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Located at 2105 Lyndale Avenue South, the Wedge derives its name from the popular nickname for the Lowry Hill East neighborhood, called "The Wedge" due to its shape. The Wedge is a member of the NCG.
National Co+op Grocers (NCG) is a business services cooperative for retail cooperative grocery stores located throughout the United States. NCG offers franchise-like services to food co-ops that help businesses optimize operational and marketing resources, offering coordinated branding; access to loans through a partnership with Capital Impact Partners; and bulk buying rates through the United Natural Foods (UNFI).
New Pioneer Food Co-op, commonly shortened to New Pi, is a locally owned food cooperative based in Iowa City, Iowa. This city also serves as the headquarters of the National Cooperative Grocers Association. New Pioneer has stores in Iowa City, Coralville, and Cedar Rapids as well as a production hub in North Liberty, Iowa.
Cooperative Development Services (CDS) is a nonprofit organization engaged in cooperative development in the United States. CDS works primarily with food cooperatives and senior housing cooperatives, providing consultation services and co-sponsoring conferences and programs for board members, managers and other professionals in the cooperative sector.
Weavers Way Co-op is a member-owned consumers' cooperative in Philadelphia's West Mt. Airy section. Founded in 1973, Weavers Way Co-op was formed as a neighborhood buying club in a church basement. Since its incorporation, it has grown to more than 5,000 member households, with annual sales of nearly $20 million. After moving to its location at 559 Carpenter Lane, Weavers Way expanded, purchasing the adjacent building and consolidating the two buildings. Subsequent expansions included the purchase of two buildings across the street, which include a retail pet supply store, retail health and wellness store and offices. Weavers Way expanded again, adding a second, larger store in Chestnut Hill, at 8424 Germantown Ave, at the former Caruso's grocery store site, in 2010 and a health and beauty specialty store, also in Chestnut Hill, in 2013. For several years, Weavers Way also ran a third smaller store in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia, but that closed in September 2011. The Co-op rents warehouse space several miles away in the Nicetown section, in the SHARE food pantry complex. Two farm operations comprise 5.5 acres, one at Awbury Arboretum in Germantown and one on the grounds of Saul Agricultural High School in Roxborough. Weavers Way has participated in such events and organizations as Mt. Airy Day, Mt. Airy ArtJam, Mt. Airy YouthWorks, Mt. Airy Business Association, Mt. Airy USA (MAUSA), Mt. Airy Village Fair, Chestnut Hill's Fall for the Arts Festival and the XPoNential Music Fest.
This is a list of organic food topics. Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods of organic farming – that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic foods are also not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.
The Minnesota Food Cooperative Wars took place in 1975-1976 time period and revolved around the many food cooperatives in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. Initially, the disputes and confrontations within the Twin Cities Cooperative movement were not referred to as "Wars", but the nomenclature developed in part as a result of the title of a documentary made decades later.
Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram (FullyRawKristina) is a writer, speaker, and raw vegan activist. She is the founder and creator of FullyRaw, the Rawfully Organic cooperative, FullyRaw Juice, and author of the book The FullyRaw Diet: 21 Days to Better Health. Her YouTube channel, where she discusses a variety of topics but mostly shares her raw vegan recipes, has more than 90 million views. She is based in Hawaii.
The Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market is a food cooperative located at 4765 Voltaire street in the Ocean Beach community of San Diego, California. It was previously called the Ocean Beach People’s Food Store. People’s started as a retail store at 4859 Voltaire Street, selling natural foods and household products. The current co-op is member-owned, but open to the public, and focuses on offering locally grown organic food.