Types of Co-operative

Co-operatives can be classified in many ways, for the purposes of membership we classify co-operatives by their ownership structure.

If a co-operatives has more than 75% of it members in one class: consumer, worker, an enterprise etc it is classifed under what we call a primary class.

If the co-operative has less then 75% in one class we usually classify it as a multi-stakeholder co-operative.

For more information on our Co-operative Identity policy please click here.

Primary	Common name	Description
Consumer	Consumer Co-operative	Where the members and beneficiaries are the customers of the co-operative.
	Consumer Retail Society	Focused on traditional co-operative retail: food, pharmacy, funeral care and travel.
	Collective purchasing Co‑operative	Individuals who come together usually for bulk buying food or utilities.
	Credit Union	Co-operatives registered under the credit union act.
	Housing Co-operative	Where members and beneficiaries are tenants or co-owners of the co-operative.
	Consumer Mutual	Member-owned but may not adhere to all co‑operative principles.
	Building Society	A specific type of mutual registered under the building society act
	Mutual Insurer	A specific type of mutual in the insurance sector.
Worker	Worker Co-operative	Where the members and beneficiaries work for the co-operative and have direct ownership and control.
	Worker Co-operative
	Employee Trust Co‑operative	Where the members and beneficiaries work for the co-operative but ownership is through Trusts, Employee Share Ownership Plans or other arrangements.
	Employee Mutual	Employee owned but may not adhere to all co‑operative principles.
Enterprise	Consortium Co-operative	Where the members and beneficiaries are businesses who share services (Buying, Marketing, Machinery)
	Agricultural Co-operative	Specifically in the Agricultural Sector
	Market Trader Co‑operative	Specifically for farmer, country and other market traders.
	Artisan Co-operative	Where the members and beneficiaries are self-employed and collectively share services.
	Secondary Co-operative	A consortium co-operative where all the members are co-operatives.
	Consortium Mutual	Member-owned but may not adhere to all co-operative principles.
Mixed	Community Co-operative	Where members are a specific community of interest and the co‑operatives benefit is to that wider community.
	Supporter Co-operative	Specifically in the Sports sector
	Multi-stakeholder Co‑operative	Organisations with any mix of the above (where less than 75% in one class.)
	Multi-stakeholder Mutual	Member-owned but may not adhere to all co-operative principles.

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Types of Co-operative

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Types of Co-operative

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