Consumer Co-operatives in the Nordic countries, 1950-2010

1. Consumer Co-operatives in the Nordic countries, 1950-2010 Espen Ekberg Centre for Business history BI Norwegian Business School

2. Plan of presentation • Main trends in the development of Western European consumer co-ops after 1950 – the rise and decline narrative • The Nordic experience • Causes for success • A Nordic model of consumer co-operation?

3. The rise and decline narrative • Dominates much (most) existing research on consumer co-operatives • After having risen to prominence from the mid nineteenth century onwards consumer co-ops went into decline in the period after 1950 • The 1989 ICA study: “In general we can resume that the lot of consumer co-operatives in Europe has been not to easy in recent years. At present only the Norwegian movement seems on a path of strong expansion – but it is still very fragmented and may benefit more from its strength in the savings area than from a comparative advantage in retailing. In Italy co-operatives seem to be faring slightly better too, but the state of Italian retailing [...] is one of the most backward in Europe.” Brazda and Schediwy 1989, p. 33

4. The rise and decline narrative • Also reflected in popular notions of co-ops • the co-op is a remnant of the past/ an outmoded organisational form unable to compete in post-war, capitalist and individualised consumer societies • But: What does the data tell us? • What characterises the development of post-war consumer co-ops

5. Market shares (food retail) Western European consumer co-ops, 1950-2010

6. Divergence not decline • Indeed, many co-ops stagnated massively after 1950, and some collapased totally. • But in a number of countries consumer co-ops retained their position and some even expanded substantially. • In many countries, consumer co-ops are the dominant providers of food retail services today.

7. Combined market shares (food retail) Nordic consumer co-ops, 1950-2010

8. The three revolutions in post-1950 food retailing • ”The supermarket revolution” - the replacement of the small, numerous counter serviced stores that still dominated the food retail industry by 1950, with large self-serviced supermarkets and hypermarkets • “The chain store revolution” - the replacement of the small independent retailer with the large standardised, integrated and centralised retail chains • “The consumer revolution” – the development of the affluent, individualised consumer society

9. What explains Nordic success? • Nordic co-ops managed to develop their structure of stores to meet with the growth of supermarket, hypermarket and multi-format retailing • Nordic co-ops managed to develop their organisational structure to meet with the superior organisational efficiency of the large, standardised, integrated and centralised retail chains • Nordic co-ops managed to adapt their ideological profile to meet with the demands and aspirations of the modern, affluent individualised consumer

10. Store formats operated by Nordic consumer co-ops 2009/2010

11. Major retailgroups in Nordic foodretailing, 2010

12. Membership in Nordic consumer co-ops, 1950-2010

13. A Nordic model of consumer co-operation? • Not really • The ”Nordic” success criteria have been equally applied in countries such as Italy and Switzerland • Despite overall similarities, also much variation between the different Nordic consumer co-ops

14. Market shares (foodretail) Nordic consumerco-ops, 1950-2010

15. Organisational structure in 2010

16. Four growth strategies

17. Consumer Co-operatives in the Nordic countries, 1950-2010 • Overall market growth, but substantial variation between countries • Handled the three revolutions in the food retail sector well • But not similar strategies • Pragmatic attitude towards the goals and principles of co-operation. • Able to re-aligning modern retailing practices with the more traditional virtues of the co-operative model.