Membership information
The Association has 55 full member businesses, with around half being agriculturally-based cooperatives
Starting off by bringing together agricultural cooperatives, membership was extended in 1996 to include a wide variety of cooperative businesses. The largest member is in the dairy sector while the smallest are community cooperatives.
During the 1990s, there were many mergers of agricultural cooperatives, so while there may be fewer cooperatives than previously they tend to be larger. Non-agricultural members include:
- Foodstuffs – NZ’s largest supermarket chain in which the grocery store owners also own the wholesale part of the business
- The Co·operative Bank – offering a nationwide network of financial services for any New Zealander
- Plumbing World – a chain of plumbing stores owned by New Zealand plumbers
- Interflora – a cooperative of flower sellers and part of a global network, with members in 15 countries
- Capricorn – a tri-nations cooperative of vehicle panel-beater businesses in three countries with headquarters in Perth, Australia
- Canterbury Education Services Society – supplying schools with many of their needs
- Community cooperatives are small, mostly Maori, communities that have chosen to form cooperatives to conduct their business activities and for the purposes of Treaty of Waitangi settlements with the Crown
Cooperative and mutual businesses join the Association to:
- support the solidarity of cooperative activity, particularly through advocacy with government, opposition parties and officials, as well as international standards setting bodies such as the International Accounting Standards Board
- network with members, directors and senior executives from other cooperative and mutual businesses, learning from the experience of others
- receive a steady stream of information from the Association through our newsletter Cooperatives News and the NEWSFlash
- send people to cooperative-specific education and training seminars
- have access to the member only area of this website, where they find information that is not available elsewhere
- receive support and advice through the Cooperative Advisory Group, which members tell us is absolutely priceless, and
- get a .coop web domain for their cooperative – right now the first year’s free
The Association represents member businesses on a raft of issues, particularly when engaging with government, ministries and agencies, and bodies such as the International Accounting Standards Board.
Levels of membership
If you want to start a co-op in New Zealand, you are encouraged to become a provisional member so that you can receive information and management guidance from the Association. See Starting a co-op.
As a membership organisation which receives no consultancy fees or subsidies, we believe it’s important to involve those looking to form a cooperative business in this Association as early on in the process as possible.
- Full membership is open to cooperatives, mutuals and other organisations whose constitutions or governing documents provide that the cooperative principle is paramount. The current annual subscription fee is available here and an application form here.
- Associate membership is available to individuals who are keen to support and be involved with the cooperative movement in this country. To find out more about associate membership, which costs $199 plus GST a year, send an email. Download an associate membership application form here.
- Provisional membership is for individuals who are intending to set up a cooperative business, and businesses that are looking into converting into a cooperative. Provisional membership is free for the first year. To find out more about provisional membership, send an email. Download a provisional membership application form here.
Download the complete list of current full members and councillors here and the Association’s rules here.
