How it works

We decided to create SuperCoop so we could connect more with both our food and neighbors. This is a supermarket that belongs to us, the members!

Just like a regular supermarket, we will have a lot of different products, but…

We offer good, healthy and fairly made food at affordable prices.
Our supermarket model depends on us making decisions together based on clear information about products and our community in order to help everyone benefit.
We see business as a tool to improve the wellbeing of people and our environment. In other words, profits are the means, not the end.

CO-OWNED SUPERMARKET

SuperCoop is owned by its members. To become a member, all you need to do is buy a share for the cost of 100€, and pay a 10€ entrance fee (no monthly fees). You choose how to pay: all at once or by installments over the period of two years.

Every member has the option of attending the Plenum meeting, where we all can vote on important topics at SuperCoop. We each have 1 vote (regardless of how many shares you own), and we all can raise topics to discuss.

3H PER MONTH

Every member commits to work 3 hours every 4 weeks for SuperCoop. Members choose when they work and what kind of work they do (i.e. attending the cash register, stocking goods, etc.) This lowers the overall cost of running the supermarket, which then lowers the prices of products on the shelves too.

The idea is that everybody contributes, and everybody benefits. You cannot pay more and work less. Only a few full time employees take care of the coordination and sourcing.

TRANSPARENCY

This means we share as much information as possible about how food is made, how it gets to us, how we decide what its price will be and how we decide what to do with the profits

We do this in many ways: signs and labels in the store, offering translations, our community wiki, as well as our website. Check out our FAQ to find out more!

This model already works successfully in New York with 17,000 members, in Paris with 7,000 and in Brussels with 2,000.

We see ourselves as a local segment of a larger movement of cooperative supermarkets working for a socially just transformation of our food system.

Want to find out more?

Watch a video about our model.
Read about us in the press.
Learn more by reading our FAQ.

Current Status

With a motivated team we founded our cooperative in October 2020. Since then we have started an online shop with over 200 products as a trial run for our future pick-up points. After finding an ideal location in Osram Höfe (in the district of Wedding), we ran a second crowdfunding campaign, raising around 75,000 €. Thanks to the campaign we were able to sign rental and loan contracts, as well as welcome 400+ new members to our coop!

Over the summer (2021) we renovated our store space, developed our own online platform for member administration and carefully selected the suppliers and producers we will partner with! On September 22, 2021 we officially opened SuperCoop at 16 Oudenarder Str., 13347 Berlin with a community of around 600 members.

Next Steps

As our community steadily continues to grow (almost 850 now!), plans for our final supermarket and pick up stations are already underway….