Cooperatives need to be owned by their members

New Zealand Cooperatives Association

*“Cooperatives need to be owned by their members, not investors,” says Cooperatives Association chairperson Peter Macdougall*

News that the new Wool Partners Cooperative Ltd will be buying out shares owned by PGG Wrightson in Wool Partners International to form a farmer-owned cooperative comes just one day after Bay of Plenty kiwifruit co-ops Eastpack and Satara announced their intention to merge, and that they will be buying out Satara’s investor shareholders.

"You can’t have two jockeys on the one horse," said Cooperatives Association chairperson Peter Macdougall. “It’s good news to hear that both these cooperatives are taking the steps they need to rid themselves of investor shareholders.”

"Is there something in the air?” he asked. “Probably not. It's no surprise that New Zealand wool and kiwifruit growers reached the same conclusion: that cooperatives need to be owned by their members, the people who transact with them, and not by outside investors."

"New Zealand is well known around the world for the number of successful cooperatives we have, and the tremendous contribution they make to our GDP."

"What's more, the Cooperatives Association is working with a number of groups across the country that are looking to start a new co-op, and this news will give these other groups a good boost,” he concluded.

*Cooperatives in New Zealand ... and the world*

* With an aggregate turnover/revenue of more than $30bn, New Zealand's cooperatives and mutuals are responsible for around 20% of the country's GDP

* Some of New Zealand's best known businesses are cooperatives and mutuals, including Fonterra Cooperative Group, Foodstuffs (Pak'n'Save, New World, Four Square), Alliance Group, Silver Fern Farms, Mitre 10, Paper Plus, Ravensdown Fertiliser Cooperative, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Southern Cross, the Automobile Association and Interflora (more at www.nz.coop

* The world's 300 largest cooperatives and mutuals, six of which are here in New Zealand, have an aggregate turnover/revenue of US$1.1 trillion, which the size of the world's 10th largest economy (more at www.global300.coop )

* According to the International Labour Organisation, cooperatives provide more than 100 million jobs, more than all the world's multinational corporations combined (more at www.ilo.org/coop )

ENDS

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