GRAP : Regional local food cooperative

Context

"The cooperative is clearly part of the ecological transition movement, to respond - at our scale - to the climate emergency. For this, we must bring together as many people as possible and make accessible food that is respectful of humans and our planet. Joining forces allows us to share and optimize many things, such as freight transportation, thus reducing prices for consumers while paying a correct price - as it should - to those who produce our food."

Team leaders

Project

GRAP is a cooperative that brings together/coordinates citizen-based activities around the processing and distribution of local and organic food, in a 150km perimeter around Lyon.

The 45 activities of the cooperative (25 grocery stores and 20 processors) offer local products, within local value chains, in bulk as much as possible, and coming from an organic production respectful of our environment. About 150 people work in the cooperative.

Inclusive and horizontal governance is at the heart of the project, so that everyone can take part in collective decisions.
To carry out this project, GRAP relies on structures such as Oxalis and Coopaname or Urscop.

Project leaders

GRAP celebrates its 6th anniversary in 2019! At the beginning, the project was carried by some people who wanted to push the inter-cooperation between actors of food.

A grocery store and a bakery were present at the beginning of the adventure. And little by little, new activities joined the project.

In early 2019, the cooperative included some twenty grocery stores and fifteen or so processors (butchers, bakers, chocolatiers, etc.).

GRAP involves both urban and rural areas, which allows them to form a strong network of activities especially around Lyon, in the Savoie-Isere area, in the Loire and in Drome-Ardeche.

Here is a map of their activities: http://www.grap.coop/activites/

The Little Extra

GRAP has the status of SCIC (cooperative society of collective interest) which allows the group to associate and work alongside existing activities. GRAP also has the status of CAE (cooperative of activities and employment) which offers them more flexibility when it comes to hire independent entrepreneurs, or establish long term contracts with social benefits.

All these activities contribute financially to each other, because they benefit from shared services (accounting, payroll and HR, training courses, management software) and all the advantages of cooperation (purchasing, mutualisation of business knowledge, etc.).

Written by Alice Deshons, LFC volunteer - January 2019.

Last modification : 30 Mar 2020.