Cairns Bread: organic bakery and shared governance

Project

Cairns Bread is an organic bakery that offers organic breads, natural sourdough, brioches, cookies, pastries, as well as gluten-free breads.

It is cooperative and participative company operated as a limited liability company and has been active for 4 years. Thus, all employees are also associates : Lauriane, Marine, Cédric, Tom, Gilles, Greg, Nico and Myriam. They are all bakers-sellers and sometimes receive help from trainees or students in CAP Boulanger (like Mahamé) or in sales (with Louis and Maud).

Le Pain des Cairns bakery operates under shared governance; it is an initiative of the Université du Nous. The Université du Nous via the Compagnons Hum Cooperative! offers any individual, organization or collective, who wishes to embark on the path of cooperation in the service of transition, support to live this singular experience of “doing together”.

Project leaders

 “We directly produce and sell natural sourdough bakery products. We strive to work without a boss, following the Université du Nous model, to organize ourselves collectively. ”

Project leaders

Concerning the shared governance model,  the Université du Nous revisits the division of power and shared tasks. By ​​“doing together”, it considers that having  a more organic organization avoids the issues of pyramid-based companies. 

Sans vraiment le vouloir, le Pain des Cairns fait parti de l’Économie Sociale et Solidaire (ESS). Phénomène énigmatique mais pourtant récurrent : certaines entreprises qui appliquent les principes de l’ESS ne s’en réclament pas forcément. Pourtant, le passage en SCOP du Pain des Cairns le place, de fait, dans le réseau de l’ESS.

Without really intending to do so, Cairns Bread is part of the Social and Solidarity Economy (ESS). This is an enigmatic but yet recurrent phenomenon: some companies that apply the principles of the SSE do not necessarily claim it. However, by becoming a cooperative (SCOP) Cairns Bread places it, in fact, within the ESS network.

The Little Extra

So in addition to the baker-seller profession, each of them is sovereign of one or more roles : administrator, salesperson, manager, health and safety, stock, planning, communication, etc. This organization requires closing regularly or adapting production, in order to carry out their meetings that serve to ensure the proper strategic and operational functioning of the bakery.

Written by Claire Caillaud, LFC volunteer - May 2019. 

Last modification : 14 May 2020.