To be or Not To Be a Multi-Stakeholder Co-op

This piece may be helpful if you’re determining whether the multistakeholder model is for you, learning from the experience of WEFC.

West End Food Co-op was a multistakeholder co-op with 4 membership classes:

• Eater members (consumers) made up the vast majority

• Worker members (staff) had the most dedicated involvement, as it was their livelihood

• Producer members (farmers and vendors) were a large portion of their bondholders, as they saw their investment in the co-op retail store as being a reliable, consistent stream of revenue for them once it launched

• Community partner members were our partnerships within the broader community

Each of these member classes had an equal representation on our Board of Directors, comprising of 12 seats, 3 seats for each class.