“Cooperatives need to be owned by their members, not investors,” says Cooperatives Association chairperson Peter Macdougall
News that the new Wool Partners Cooperative Ltd will be buying out shares owned by PGG Wrightson in Wool Partners International to form a farmer-owned cooperative comes just one day after Bay of Plenty kiwifruit co-ops Eastpack and Satara announced their intention to merge, and that they will be buying out Satara’s investor shareholders.
1 October 2010
“Cooperatives need to be owned by their members, not investors,” says Cooperatives Association chairperson Peter Macdougall
News that the new Wool Partners Cooperative Ltd will be buying out shares owned by PGG Wrightson in Wool Partners International to form a farmer-owned cooperative comes just one day after Bay of Plenty kiwifruit co-ops Eastpack and Satara announced their intention to merge, and that they will be buying out Satara’s investor shareholders.
"You can’t have two jockeys on the one horse," said Cooperatives Association chairperson Peter Macdougall. “It’s good news to hear that both these cooperatives are taking the steps they need to rid themselves of investor shareholders.”
"Is there something in the air?” he asked. “Probably not. It's no surprise that New Zealand wool and kiwifruit growers reached the same conclusion: that cooperatives need to be owned by their members, the people who transact with them, and not by investors."
"New Zealand is well known around the world for the number of successful cooperatives we have, and the tremendous contribution they make to our GDP."
"What's more, the Cooperatives Association is working with a number of groups across the country that are looking to start a new co-op, and this news will give these other groups a good boost,” he concluded.
Cooperatives in New Zealand ... and the world
* With an aggregate turnover/revenue of more than $30bn, New Zealand's cooperatives and mutuals are responsible for around 20% of the country's GDP
* Some of New Zealand's best known businesses are cooperatives and mutuals, including Fonterra Cooperative Group, Foodstuffs (Pak'n'Save, New World, Four Square), Alliance Group, Silver Fern Farms, Mitre 10, Paper Plus, Ravensdown Fertiliser Cooperative, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Southern Cross, the Automobile Association and Interflora (more at www.nz.coop)
* The world's 300 largest cooperatives and mutuals, six of which are here in New Zealand, have an aggregate turnover/revenue of US$1.1 trillion, which the size of the world's 10th largest economy (more at www.global300.coop)
* According to the International Labour Organisation, cooperatives provide more than 100 million jobs, more than all the world's multinational corporations combined (more at www.ilo.org/coop)
For further information please contact
Peter Macdougall
Chairperson, New Zealand Cooperatives Association, phone 027 433 9837
Chairperson of the New Zealand Cooperatives Association, Peter Macdougall was until recently a director of Ballance Agri-Nutrients Ltd. In partnership with his family, he farms 4,000 hectares in Central Otago on which he carries 24,000 stock units. In 1998 he was awarded the Peren Cup as winner of the New Zealand Perendale Sheep farmer of the Year.
Ramsey Margolis
Executive Director, New Zealand Cooperatives Association, phone 021 973 531
About the New Zealand Cooperatives Association
The New Zealand Cooperatives Association aims to:
* encourage, promote and advance cooperative enterprise
* act as representative association for those engaged as cooperatives
* promote discussion and cooperation with decision makers at all levels of government to further the interest of the cooperative movement
* provide services and expertise to those engaged in the cooperative movement and carry out research into all aspects of the movement
* collect, verify and publish information relating to the cooperative movement
