Who is this toolkit for?
This toolkit is most useful for individuals and groups who are thinking of setting up quite small scale food co-ops that are going to be run on a not-for-profit basis mainly by volunteers.
These may include buying clubs, stalls, bag or box schemes, mobile stores or home delivery schemes, markets or shops.
A lot of the information in the toolkit relates to selling fresh fruit and vegetables as this is what most of the food co-ops involved in writing the toolkit supply. However, there is also information about wholefoods and a lot of the content will be relevant whatever types of food you decide to sell.
The toolkit is also most relevant to food co-ops that either register as consumer co-operatives or that run more informally by a group of friends or by an existing organisation.
Although, some of the information may be relevant to other types of co-operatives, such as workers co-operatives, the content does not focus on running commercial businesses so for more information about setting up other co-operative enterprises it is best to contact Co-operatives UK.
The food co-ops toolkit also focuses on information about distributing or selling food, however it does not aim to provide any information about how to grow produce or run catering projects.
