Consumer Productive Cooperative Koykoyli Thessalonikis

Initiator/Founder/Owner:

Consumer – Productive Cooperaive Koykoyli of Thessaloniki

Contact Person:

Papastafidas Anastasios – Member of the Board

Funding: 

The cooperative was created with the private funding of its members

Background:

The Consumer – Productive Cooperation Koykoyli was founded on July 16, 2016 and is governed by the provisions of the cooperative legislation on social economy and solidarity.

The purpose of the Cooperative is to promote sustainable development while its activities promote the sustainability of the environment and contribute to social and economic equality. More specifically, the cooperative develops activities of consumer, agricultural, manufacturing, transport, development, social, educational, environmental and cultural nature based on the principles of ecology, demagnification and social economy.

The headquarters of the Cooperative are located at its retail store in Thessaloniki while the members of the Cooperative are its consumers and producers.         

Place / address:

Ipsilantou 28, region of Voulgari, Thessaloniki, Greece

Central branch and regional / local points:

Central branch: Ipsilantou 28, region of Voulgari, Thessaloniki, Greece

Contact: Papastafidas Anastasios

There are no other regional or local points.

Short presentation of the center/object:

Koukouli, through the creation of the retail store, offers producers – members their own location for selling their products without being dependent on intermediaries. In this way, producers can keep their sales prices low and have full control not only of the production but also of the distribution of their products to consumers.

The cooperative contributes to the dissemination and support of ecological farming and the development of consumer consciousness, applying the philosophy "from field to plate". It contributes to the mutual assistance and support of young farmers who are willing to turn to ecological farming while at the same time spreading the value of demagnetization of production and the harmfulness of the use of chemicals and fertilizers.

The field of operation of the Cooperative is local – regional and its suppliers consist of local, regional and national producers who are members of the Cooperative. Customers of the store are mainly consumers of the wider area, other shops and restaurants. The transport of products is carried out by suppliers but in many cases, they are combined with other activities (on-site payments and supervisions by the cooperative or the transition of producers to nearby flea markets) in order to reduce travel routes and environmental footprint.

Services provided by the center:

Koykoyli mainly carries out retail sales rather than wholesales to other companies and merchants. It only imports products that are not produced domestically and combines its orders with other cooperatives in order to achieve a better price and reduce the environmental footprint.

It promotes and advertises its products within the store and online in social media offering special prices and deals. Its customers have the opportunity to order their products either by phone, by e-mail or through the online store. Delivery is carried out from the store by its own private means of transportation.

Periodicity:

The store is open all year round operating all working days and hours.

Production offered by the center:

The Cooperative has the following product categories:

Ø  Food: flour & semolina, cereal, olives & oil, pasta, coffee – sugar, jam & traditional Greek deserts, honey & subproducts, spices, legumes, pickles

Ø  Groceries: vegetables, nuts, fruit

Ø  Bakery: bread & pastry, pastries, healthy snacs

Ø  From the farm: eggs, cheese products, meat

Ø  Herbs & Health: essential oils-flower water, herbs, aromatic plants, herb oil, herbal tinctures, potted plants

Ø  Drinks: juice, wine, tsipouro, liquor

Ø  Personal hygiene: cosmetics – treatment περιποίηση, shampoo – soaps

Ø  Home care: natural cleaners - detergents, glue

Terms of Access:

Who the center is accessible for:

·       To sell

The most important criterion for someone to sell their products at the Koykoyli is to recognize the special character of the cooperative that concerns the joint effort of all participants to form a new ethos in the relationship between the producer and the final consumer. Koykoyli is all its members and the shelves are for all and for each one separately. The producer delivers his products to his own shop and develops his own control systems while helping to improve the quality of the products of the other members. The criteria for the introduction of products to the Cooperative aim at encouraging small rural producers to move towards ecological farming practices and ecological production in order to become members of the cooperative. No formal certification is required as relations between producers and consumers are based on mutual trust and cooperation. During the cooperation, the Cooperative does on-site visits to farms and carries out laboratory analyses of samples through its Committee for the ecological evaluation of producers and products. In addition to the ecological production criteria, working conditions and health and safety conditions at the workplace are taken into account. Particular importance is given to keeping prices low and decrease the environmental footprint through transportation and packaging.

Any product on the shelves of the store should come from a supplier who is a member of the cooperative, while for products not produced in Greece there is the department of fair-trade eco-products. The cooperative aims exclusively at producers who directly sell their products through the store. Intermediaries-merchants are not allowed to become members of the Cooperative and sell their products.

Criteria for selling products through the Cooperative

-       The producer should become a member of the Cooperative by filling out an application and paying a participation fee (€ 300,00)

-       In cases where the farmer submits an Application for Financial Aid he should also send it to the Cooperative’s Evaluation Committee.

-       Land should be cultivated according to the following farming practices: organic, biodynamic and natural cultivation or a combination of them.

-       The cooperative supports the international movement for the conservation and dissemination of traditional varieties and seeds. It suggests cultivating traditional varieties and seeds but does not exclude producers using hybrids. The cooperation does not accept products from mutated seeds.   

-       Products that need to be stored must follow ecological storage methods.

-       Products collected form nature are not allowed. These products will be accepted only in case where there are not corresponding products of ecological production and do not come from protected areas. In any case a trade permit from public bodies is required.

·       To buy

-       The buyers of the products offered by the store are mainly local consumers and there are no special criteria for their access to the store. They are characterized by their sensitivity to the environment and the production methods of the products they consume. Buyers can also be other local shops and / or restaurants while actions are being taken for organized development of wholesales.