co op type consumers cooperative founded 1983 1983 headquarters dublin ireland products organic wholefoods sustainable personal care and household products website dublinfood.coop dublin food co operative society limited is a food retailer based in a large former warehouse in the liberties area of dublin ireland . it was founded in 1983 and is constituted as a consumer co operative with a focus on organic and wholefood products . 1 the main trading day at the co op venue is saturday when the majority of sales are made by independent stallholders . whilst similar to a farmers market in some respects its operating model pre dates the later popularity of farmers markets in ireland . 2 it further differs from farmers markets by excluding meat and meat products in keeping with its constitution . 1 the dublin food co op venue also opens on thursdays fridays and on sundays when the venue normally hosts independent market events . contents 1 history 1.1 beginnings 1983 1987 1.2 pearse street 1987 2007 1.3 newmarket 2007 2 activities 3 operating model 4 references 5 external links history edit beginnings 1983 1987 edit the origins of the co op lie with a group of activists brought together by the successful campaign against the construction of a nuclear power plant at carnsore point in county wexford . in 1983 a number of those involved met together to form an organisation through which members could shop in an ecologically sound way and promote the rational use of the earth s resources . thus a buying club for the collective purchase of wholefoods was established . 1 3 4 for one saturday each month the co op used a succession of locations in temple bar as a focal point to allow members to collect pre ordered wholefoods and to socialise . in 1986 some members who were also producers began to provide fresh organic produce for sale directly at the saturday events . pearse street 1987 2007 edit in 1987 the co op arranged to rent the hall at st. andrew s resource centre on pearse street dublin 2 every second saturday and switched from monthly to bi weekly order collections after that . 3 5 this location became the co op s base for the next two decades . when the co op settled into the new venue the process to formally incorporate as a co operative limited company under the rules of the industrial and provident society acts 1893 1978 was initiated and dublin food co operative society limited thus came into being in february 1991 . 6 in 1995 the co op switched away from the pre order only system began carrying a range of stock for general purchase and moved to weekly trading . 3 concerns about the pearse street premises limiting the co op s scope for development remained a recurring theme over subsequent years . 3 7 other alternatives were explored but it was not until 2007 that relocation occurred after the co op received planning permission and signed a lease on full time premises at newmarket further to the west of the city centre near st. patrick s cathedral . 8 many members and local shoppers wanted to continue shopping at st. andrew s and one of them started a saturday dry goods and producers market at the venue the super natural food market . this commenced as a weekly event in august 2007 the month after the co op departed . 9 newmarket 2007 edit the dublin food co op building at 12 newmarket dublin 8 in july 2007 the co op switched operations to its current home at 12 newmarket dublin 8 10 and added thursday trading at the new venue from september . 11 it was formally opened in october 2007 by minister for the environment john gormley to coincide with ireland s national organic week . 12 in april 2013 a new five year lease for the newmarket premises was signed . however the possibility of the co op buying its own alternate premises has been under active exploration since 2011 and this option continues to be provided for by a break clause in the lease . activities edit the vast majority of pre packed food the co op sells is organic and particular emphasis is placed on fair trade and environmentally friendly produce . during saturday trading 09 30 to 16 30 stallholders extend the dry goods range to include organic vegetables and fruits organic cheeses eggs and dairy organic wine baked goods organic clothing books and other non food items . 4 the co op also opens on thursdays and fridays with more limited availability of fresh produce . in addition the co op offers its dry goods range for sale on sundays . the number of member shareholders of the society at the end of 2012 was recorded by the annual accounts at 876 . 13 members receive a 5 % discount on purchases which increases to 15 % if they also volunteer on a rota system to assist with tasks such as shelf stacking . 14 since securing its own permanent space and making it available for hire the co op has become home to regular events including the monthly dublin flea market 15 fusion market 16 and newmarket brocante plus the annual independents day . 17 18 operating model edit a 2009 academic study described dublin food co op as distinctive on the irish scene because of its organisational structure . 1 at that time it was one of only two irish wholefood retailers established as co operatives and the only one to take the form of a consumers co operative the other the quay co operative in cork was organised as a workers co operative . the study also argued that the co op had a different pricing structure to conventional businesses only adding the margin needed to cover its operating expenses . 1 references edit a b c d e murtagh aisling and ward prof. michael food democracy in practice a case study of the dublin food co op journal of co operative studies volume 42 number 1 april 2009 pp. 13 22 carswell vanessa . bite size farm fresh sunday business post 27 october 2007 a b c d douthwaite richard 1996 . short circuit strengthening local economics for security in an unstable world . dublin lilliput press . isbn 1 874675 60 0 . a b mcfadden angela . new phase for dublin s food co op . the epoch times . 23 july 2007 . dublin food co op a critique dfc history . retrieved 2014 01 08 . dublin food co op website ref . about us dublin food co op newsletter october 2005 pdf . retrieved 2011 08 28 . dublin food co op newsletter february march 2007 pdf . retrieved 2011 08 28 . morris stephanie . saturday morning cure at the natural foods market newsfour october 2007 mooney sinead . food shorts new home for food co op the irish times . 7 july 2007 dublin food co op newsletter october 2007 pdf . retrieved 2013 04 23 . kelly michael . what s going on the irish times 20 october 2007 dublin food co op a critique dfc finance 2012 accounts pdf . retrieved 2014 01 08 . dublin food co op website . ref . join . dublin flea market website . new market comes to newmarket . irish times . 2012 05 05 . retrieved 2012 06 20 . independents day blog carroll jim . etc. the irish times 5 december 2008 external links edit dublin food co op website dublin food co op a critique coordinates 53 20 16.56 n 6 16 36.96 w 53.3379333 n 6.2769333 w 53.3379333 ; 6.2769333 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dublin food co op & oldid 732589481 categories organisations based in dublin city food cooperativescompanies established in 1991cooperatives in the republic of ireland1991 establishments in irelandconsumers cooperativeshidden categories use dmy dates from july 2015use irish english from july 2015all wikipedia articles written in irish englishcoordinates not on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite 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