Cooperatives
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Co-operatives:
Cooperatives are made up of members who unite to market (sell) their products or services.
Members own the cooperative.
Cooperatives also may sell products or services to their members.
Members get to control the cooperative and decide how its run!
There is no limit to the number of members in a co-operative
The members share in the profits of the co-operative
Co-Operative Societies can be divided broadly into three categories
Producer Co-Operatives
This means that the members form a co-operative which would have the function to cater for the sales of their produce. The final product is not produced by the co-operative itself. Examples of producer co-operatives are agriculture, fisheries, pig-breeders, milk and wine producers. The farmer produces vegetables as a self-employed in his fields; like the fisherman or the herdsman. When it comes to sell his product, the co-operative collect the products from all its members, and strives to sell it at the best price.
Consumer Co-Operatives
In this case, the members form a co-operative with the aim of charging it with the function of buying products in bulk for their sake. Later on, the members would purchase these products from the co-operative like individual consumers do. Examples of such consumer co-operatives are supermarkets and other selling outlets. So a student who is a member in a bookshop co-operative benefits from a reduction in the price of the books that are purchased.
Worker Co-Operatives
In most cases, both the producer and the consumer co-operatives