FARMER-controlled Businesses

Support for the establishment and promotion of agricultural co-operatives and other forms of farmer-controlled businesses (FCBs) has been the main focus of the Plunkett Foundation since its establishment.

Agricultural co-operatives are a proven mechanism by which individual farmers can join together to gain marketing strength to improve the profitability of their core businesses. In many countries agricultural co-operatives have come to dominate the marketing of certain agricultural products or the supply of certain farm services. The co-operative model of business has been found to be uniquely appropriate to the needs of farmers in competitive economies.

The Foundation’s origins grew out of the desperate conditions in rural Ireland at the turn of the last century, where Sir Horace Plunkett successfully transposed the concept of dairy co-operatives, already successful in Denmark, into the means of addressing rural poverty. Over the course of a century these fledgling co-operative creameries grew to become multinational food groups such as Avonmore, Golden Vale and Glanbia, among Ireland’s largest and most dynamic businesses.

In recent years the Foundation has been closely associated with the progressive growth of UK producer marketing co-operatives that has accompanied the concentration and rationalisation of the retail food sector. The Foundation worked closely with the Co-operative Development Division of Food from Britain in developing this sector and, following its closure in 1992, has assumed a training and consultancy role in relation to this sector. An annual Plunkett publication catalogues all FCBs in the UK and provides up-to-date statistics on their current performance.

Latest data indicate that there are currently 563 FCBs in the UK, employing some 13,600 staff and with a combined membership of 241,000 producers. The major share of turnover of these businesses is accounted for by the marketing of members’ produce, amounting to £5.4 billion in 1999. The share of produce marketed through producer organisations varies from product to product, but, for example, exceeds 90% for milk, apples, cauliflowers and wool.

The success of agricultural co-operatives in the UK is mirrored throughout the world. In several EU member states the agricultural sector is dominated by agricultural co-operatives. In the developing world, the Foundation has worked in over 50 countries managing co-operative development projects for internationalagencies such as DFID, the European Commission and the World Bank.