Some surprising facts

Co-operatives are one of the world's best kept secrets. Here are twelve suprising facts to get you started for 2012.

• Champagne is predominately produces by co-operatives.
• 80% of Spanish olive oil is produced by co-operatives
• 75 % of Fairtrade goods are produced by co-operatives of smallholders
• Over 1 billion people worldwide are members of co-operatives
• Over 3 billion people secure their livelihoods through co-operatives
• Co-operatives employ more than 20% more people than multinational corporations
• In the UK, the co-operative economy has grown by 21 per cent to £33 billion since the start of the credit crunch in 2008
• There are 12.8 million members of co-operatives in the UK - that's one in five of the UK population
• There are over 5,450 independent co-operative businesses in the UK
• In the UK, there is a 97% survival rate of community shops with only 8 of 259 shops ever having closed
• Roughly 90% of parmesan cheese in Italy is produced by dairy members who are part of a co-operative
• Divine is a Fairtrade chocolate company, which is 45% owned by the Ghanian farmers’ cocao co-operative Kuapa Kakoo