Types of Cooperatives — The 8 Main Kinds Explained

The 8 Main Types of Cooperatives

Cooperatives are classified by who the members are and what the cooperative does for them. The eight principal types are:

Type	Members Are	Cooperative Does
Agricultural	Farmers	Processes, markets, or supplies farm inputs
Worker	Employees	Employs and is owned by workers
Consumer	Customers	Sells goods or services to members
Housing	Residents	Provides housing to members
Electric	Utility customers	Supplies electricity to members
Banking / Credit	Depositors / borrowers	Provides financial services
Marketing	Producers	Markets and sells members' products
Food	Community members	Operates a food store or hub

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1. Agricultural Cooperatives

Members: Farmers and agricultural producers Purpose: To improve the economic position of farmers through collective action

Agricultural cooperatives are the largest category worldwide by number and economic impact. Farmers join together to:

• Supply inputs (seeds, fertiliser, equipment) at lower cost
• Process raw produce (milk → cheese, grain → flour)
• Market and sell products collectively for higher prices
• Share expensive equipment (tractors, harvesters)

Examples:

• Dairy Farmers of America — 11,000 US dairy farmers, $18B revenue
• AMUL (India) — 3.6 million dairy farmers, the largest dairy cooperative in Asia
• Fonterra (New Zealand) — 9,000 dairy farmers, exports to 140 countries
• Land O'Lakes — 1,700 member cooperatives, $14B revenue

Largest cluster: India has over 850,000 cooperatives — most are agricultural, particularly dairy and banking cooperatives in rural areas.

Full guide: Agricultural Cooperatives →

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2. Worker Cooperatives

Members: Employees Purpose: Workers collectively own and govern the business they work for

In a worker cooperative, employees are the owners. They elect the board, vote on major decisions, and share in the business's surpluses. There are no outside shareholders — control and benefits stay with the people doing the work.

Worker cooperatives are found in every industry: tech, construction, manufacturing, professional services, journalism, and more.

Examples:

• Mondragon Corporation (Spain) — 81,000 worker-owners, the world's largest worker cooperative network, €12B revenue
• REI is often cited but is actually a consumer cooperative
• Cooperative Home Care Associates (USA) — 1,800 home care workers
• Evergreen Cooperatives (Cleveland, OH) — worker-owned enterprises in laundry, food, and energy

Key feature: One worker, one vote — regardless of seniority or pay grade.

Full guide: Worker Cooperatives →

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3. Consumer Cooperatives

Members: Customers Purpose: To supply goods and services to members at fair prices

Consumer cooperatives are owned by the customers they serve. When the cooperative makes a surplus, it is returned to members in proportion to how much they spent — not to outside investors.

Examples:

• REI (USA) — 22 million members, $3.7B revenue, consumer cooperative for outdoor equipment
• Co-op Group (UK) — 4.6 million members, food retail and funeral services
• Migros (Switzerland) — 2 million members, largest retailer in Switzerland
• Ace Hardware — a cooperative of 5,000+ independent hardware store owners (technically a purchasing cooperative)

Subtypes:

• Retail consumer co-ops (REI, food co-ops)
• Purchasing cooperatives (members are businesses that buy jointly — Ace Hardware, True Value)

Full guide: Consumer Cooperatives →

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4. Housing Cooperatives

Members: Residents Purpose: To provide members with housing on a cooperative basis

In a housing cooperative, residents own shares in a corporation that owns the building — rather than owning their individual units outright. This is common in New York City, Chicago, and European cities.

Types of housing cooperatives:

• Market-rate co-ops — shares can be sold at market value
• Limited-equity co-ops — resale prices are capped to preserve affordability
• Leasehold co-ops — members lease units from the co-op corporation

Examples:

• NYC residential co-ops — a majority of NYC apartment buildings are structured as cooperatives
• Rochdale Village (Queens, NY) — 5,860 apartments
• London housing cooperatives — growing sector, especially mutual aid housing

Adjacent category: Homeschool cooperatives — families pooling resources for homeschool instruction and activities — have a different structure but high search volume in this cluster.

Full guide: Housing Cooperatives →

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5. Electric Cooperatives

Members: Electricity consumers in the service area Purpose: To provide reliable, affordable electricity to member-owners

Electric cooperatives were established across rural America in the 1930s after for-profit utilities refused to extend service to low-density areas. They now serve 42 million Americans in 48 states through 832 distribution cooperatives, organised under the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).

Structure:

• Members pay a small joining fee and elect a board of directors
• The cooperative operates the local grid (distribution level)
• Power is sourced from generation and transmission (G&T) cooperatives or market

Examples:

• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) — umbrella for 832 co-ops
• Pedernales Electric Cooperative (Texas) — one of the largest, 390,000+ members
• Dairyland Power Cooperative — generation and transmission co-op, Wisconsin
• Tri-State Generation and Transmission — G&T co-op serving 630,000 members

Full guide: Electric Cooperatives →

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6. Banking & Credit Cooperatives

Members: Depositors and borrowers Purpose: To provide financial services to members at fair rates

Financial cooperatives include credit unions, cooperative banks, and savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs). Members are both depositors and owners. Profits return to members as dividends or lower loan rates.

Subtypes:

• Credit unions — member-owned deposit and lending institutions (US terminology)
• Cooperative banks — similar to credit unions, common in Europe
• SACCOs — Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations, dominant in Africa and Asia
• Cooperative banks in India — the largest cooperative banking network in the world

Examples:

• Navy Federal Credit Union (USA) — 13 million members, $168B assets
• Desjardins Group (Canada) — 7 million members, largest cooperative financial group in North America
• Credit Agricole (France) — one of the world's largest banks, cooperative structure
• SACCOL (South Africa) — savings and credit cooperative

Full guide: Banking Cooperatives →

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7. Marketing Cooperatives

Members: Producers Purpose: To collectively market, brand, and sell members' products

Marketing cooperatives are common in agriculture, where individual farmers lack the scale to negotiate with large buyers or build recognised brands. The cooperative pools supply and markets it under a single brand.

Examples:

• Ocean Spray — 700 cranberry and grapefruit growers, $2.7B revenue
• Blue Diamond Growers — 3,000 almond growers in California
• Sunkist — 6,000 citrus growers across California and Arizona
• Argan oil cooperatives (Morocco) — women's cooperatives producing and marketing argan products globally

Key feature: Members retain ownership of their farms but sell through a collective organisation that adds value through processing, branding, and distribution.

Full guide: Marketing Cooperatives →

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8. Food Cooperatives

Members: Community members Purpose: To provide members with access to quality, affordable food

Food cooperatives (food co-ops) are community-owned grocery stores, buying clubs, or food hubs. They typically prioritise local, organic, or sustainably-produced food and return surpluses to members.

Examples:

• Weaver Street Market (North Carolina) — worker-consumer hybrid co-op
• Park Slope Food Coop (Brooklyn, NY) — 17,000 member households, members work 2.75 hrs/month
• Wheatsville Co-op (Austin, TX)
• The Co-operative Food (UK) — 2,500+ food stores under the Co-op Group

Overlap with consumer cooperatives: Food co-ops are technically a subcategory of consumer cooperatives, but they are classified separately due to their distinct community-food focus and high search volume.

Full guide: Food Cooperatives →

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Other Types Worth Knowing

Beyond the main 8, there are several additional categories:

Producer cooperatives: Producers (not just farmers) jointly own processing or distribution facilities. Overlaps with agricultural and marketing.

Purchasing cooperatives: Businesses (not consumers) buy jointly to lower input costs. Ace Hardware and True Value are examples.

Utility cooperatives: Broader than electric — includes water, telephone, and broadband cooperatives.

Multi-stakeholder cooperatives: Combine multiple member types (workers + consumers + investors). Growing in healthcare and social care.

Platform cooperatives: Worker-owned digital platforms — an emerging category (e.g., Up&Go, a cooperative cleaning service).

Social cooperatives: Italy's pioneering model of social service cooperatives, integrated into public social care delivery.

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How to Choose the Right Type

If you are considering starting a cooperative, the type is determined by:

1. Who benefits? The primary beneficiaries determine the membership type
2. What do they share? The shared activity (production, consumption, housing, employment) defines the sector
3. What is the legal form? Each country has specific legal structures for different cooperative types — see law on cooperatives for country-by-country detail

The NCBA CLUSA, the US national cooperative association, maintains resources on identifying and forming the right cooperative type for your situation.

Read: How to Start a Cooperative →

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See also:

• What are Cooperatives? →
• The 7 Cooperative Principles →
• Advantages and Disadvantages →