The Dublin Food Co-Operative is the longest running wholefoods co-operative in Ireland. Its roots lie with a group of friends who in 1983, formed a buying group to save money by bulk purchasing vegetarian wholefoods and other sustainable living products.
Project: Dublin Food Co-Operative
Location: Dublin, Co. Dublin
Sector: Co-Operative
Within a short time, this embryonic co-operative had moved toward trading weekly from a hired hall at St. Andrew’s Resource Centre on Pearse Street – its home for more than two decades.
The Co-operative became formally registered in 1991 aiming to provide members and others with access to high-quality organic food, directly from suppliers in Ireland, or by buying other foods in bulk from Europe thereby reducing the amount of carbon used to import. The Co-op finally found a permanent home in Kilmainham, purchased with the assistance of a loan from Community Finance Ireland, and so their story continues.
“It was a real pleasure to work with an institution that already understood our co-operative ethos and that cared about impact as much as we did. The staff at Community Finance Ireland provided patient and constructive support throughout, and it was great working closely with their team along the whole journey from finding our new premises, progressing through the sale, getting the support of our membership and finally opening our doors in November 2018.”
Sam Toland, Secretary, Dublin Food Co-operative
