Local food-buying cooperatives, which cut out the middlemen between producers and consumers, are taking the country by storm.
The concept is far from new, but it's proving increasingly popular. "Interest is definitely growing," says John Atherton of Co-operatives UK, an organisation that supports cooperative enterprise across Britain. "We're seeing rising numbers of buying groups and community shops. It's a trend that is set to continue."
As well as cutting out the middlemen, cooperatives are jointly owned and democratically controlled by their members - and it is the members who are the beneficiaries of the activities of the business.
Across Britain, food co-ops are sprouting up in school halls, community centres, farm sheds or even your neighbour's front room - anywhere, in fact, where rent is free.
The system is simple: find a supplier, buy in bulk and collectively cover the costs. Smaller co-ops will only buy what participants have ordered, whereas larger organisations operate as markets or even set up their own shops. Some of these "community" co-ops invite customers to become members. You pay a nominal fee to be able to shop from it, or have a say in how it is run.
So what are the benefits? In Trealaw, a small community in the Rhondda Valley, they have an Aldi, Lidl and an Asda and yet the Food Co-op has around 200 members. They collect their pre-ordered fruit and veg. every Thursday and reckon that for £3 you get what would cost you about £7 in the local supermarket.
Many cooperatives get their fresh supplies from local farms thus helping their local community and on top of that there's no expensive packaging to pay for.
Will the trend continue and more and more people use their local co-op or will the supermarkets bring down the prices of their fresh produce to win back customers? Do you use a local food cooperative and if so how does it compare in terms of quality and price?
