The Dublin Food Co-op Is Back On Their Feet But They Still Need You

The Dublin Food Co-op has grown into a landmark for sustainability in the Dublin 8 neighbourhood with around 1,500 members

by Jessica Krieg

TheDublin Food Co-op is a member cooperative with the goal of serving the community by offering the best quality organic and ecologically sourced food at the most reasonable costs. The cooperative acts on a volunteer basis. Every member is a shareholder, can become a volunteer and is offered a discount based on the hours they work. As well as that, all are invited to join.

and other sustainable products for decades. Though formally registered in 1991, the Coop was actually formed in early 1980, the Co-op began its journey at St. Andrews Research Centre on Pearse Street. After moving to their old location at Newmarket in the Liberties the cooperative has been a hub for everything organic in Dublin 8 since 2007.

Located at the Old Chocolate Factory across the road from Kilmainham Gaol and only a short walk away from Phoenix Park, the Dublin Food Coop has been providing the people of Dublin with vegetarian whole foods

Like many other businesses, the Dublin Food Co-op has had to endure many hits during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We were open the whole time, 7 days a week. It was relentless,” says cooperative secretary Sam Toland. “When I look back at it now, I’m surprised that we tried to remain open as much as we did. But nonetheless, it just meant it was very difficult to hold on and to keep people,” he adds. But thanks to their resilience and the hard work of their staff, members and volun- teers, the cooperative has managed to slowly work their way back up to a fully formed team. decimated volunteering system during the pandemic, the Co-op has become very professionalised. “Our Co-op just doesn’t really work at a high level of professional operation,” says Sam highlighting that the heart of their model is that members contribute their time, which reduces the Co-ops costs and in return is being passed back to members in discounts. “Ultimately, we are not competitive, we are cooperative. We are not looking to get into direct competition with any other shop that happens to sell organic products,” he stresses. “We’re a cooperative and the unique aspect of that is that we have members who can participate.”

For the first time in 6 years, the cooperative had to increase their membership fee to keep their prices at the same rate. Due to the pandemic, the Co-op team was thinned out and their adjacent and affiliated Limetree café was shut down, the Co-op is now looking to grow their team of members and volunteers back to their original numbers, but “probably even more so than before the pandemic.” By the end of the next fiscal year, they hope to increase their volunteering team from 70 to 350 people. This could be called quite an “optimistic” goal, says Sam, but “we’d be happy with half that. That would be the biggest change for the shop.” After all, their volunteering system is what makes the cooperative so unique.

Of course, the cooperative recognises the current cost of the living crisis being a concern for volunteer work, Sam is aware that people’s living standards are under pressure and that many are worried about money. However, he says that people do need to reflect on what is important at the moment. He emphasises looking at the big picture when it comes to people’s budgets. Saying that people should reconsider whether their food budget should take the biggest hit and that people should really consider how important the independent grocer is for them. Never mind a community grocer.

“People are flocking to the supermarkets and independent grocers are going out of business left, right and centre. If we are not careful people are going to be living in hollowed-out local neighbourhoods with Dunnes Stores and Lidl on the edge of town.”

Sam also talks about the struggle they are facing at the minute with Irish and organic food being expensive as “people are not as prepared to pay for them in the way they used to be.” People want Irish produce, but they have to understand there are limits, especially based on the time of year. He recommends people focus on Irish food at the times when it is available and that it is a “tragedy” that the whole country leaves for the summer months when they are the best months for Irish produce.

“People are flocking to the supermarkets and independent grocers are going out of business left, right and centre. If we are not careful people are going to be living in hollowed-out local neighbourhoods with Dunnes Stores and Lidl on the edge of town. Is that the Dublin you want to live in?” This a very important question that we should all consider.

For 2023 they are planning on “fundamentally reorienting” the Co-op to return to their roots. With the high work intensity and a

With a big emphasis on the community, the Co-op is also trying to get back to their monthly events in the newly opened cafe Loaf next door. The events will be based on different sustainability themes and actions, such as clothes-swapping parties. They are currently trying to get an events team together. Something they used to have in the past but unfortunately disbanded for various reasons, including their move to Kilmainham.

Regarding expansion plans the Co-op was planning to identify a warehouse space to grow their online and bulk offering and a second location as a multi-use space. But unless their volunteering model gets great traction next year and after Covid and with the current cost of living crisis, the Co-op is not talking about expansion anytime soon and rather about “consolidation and survival.”