update

Summer ‘23 - News from, and for, Scotland’s farmer co-ops

#workingtogether - what’s next?

To say that these are difficult times is quite the understatement. According to www.mentalhealth.org.uk, in mid May, “60% of UK adults had experienced anxiety that interfered with their daily lives in the past two weeks”. Shocking events around the world and the state of politics, and politicians, at home, have made many of us stop reading or watching the news, and even more to avoid social media. We know that many of you reading this are not ‘all over’ social media. So a hashtag, and ours of #workingtogether, might not mean much, except perhaps poor grammar. Sadly, social media, and Twitter in particular, seems to compound many of today’s problems. We hear frequent examples of the herd mentality, self perpetuating their chosen ‘truth’ and attacking and threatening others with different views or beliefs, or who happen not to look the same as them. But our #workingtogether isn’t just a hashtag for social media, it’s all about sharing for positive gain and really is at the core of everything SAOS does and what we help others to do better, and we firmly believe it’s key to overcoming many of today’s challenges. Tackling challenges together, whether work-related or personal, is a huge step in the right direction towards a solution. We’re often reminded that working together is also a lot more fun that going it alone, and in difficult times it’s even more vital.

All co-ops, including SAOS, share a set of values based on self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. As with our founders, all co-op members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. These values have never been more important or relevant. In many different ways, SAOS has been helping their members and communities for nearly 120 years. Our latest annual report touches on many of them. And, as is the way of SAOS, we are always exploring new ways to do things better, by #workingtogether. One for starters, Jim Booth, Head of Co-op Development, announces a new opportunity for Co-op Members: “Innovation, change and growth provide the lifeblood for all businesses, not least farm co-ops. Standing still is not an option in today’s fast changing world where there are geopolitical, consumer and competitive challenges. Farm co-ops have been at the forefront of innovation for years. While there is never a shortage of ambition and good ideas from our member co-ops, we recognise it has been increasingly hard to find the staff resource and skills to research and explore possibilties to test their commercial viability. The new service we’re launching will seek to change that by supporting co-op members looking to grow, innovate or explore potential new developments.

Funding for the service is through a new Scotland Food & Drink workstream which will supply the resource and expertise to provide a range of different services. Depending on the situation and requirements, these can include market research, feasibility studies, business planning, exploring funding options, grant application, learning journeys, amongst other services.

Scotland’s farm co-ops represent over 30% of Scotland’s agricultural output, and reach 35-40% of all Scottish farmers. This new service aims to harness the economies of scale and leadership role of our co-ops amongst their farmer networks, where they are a great enabler of change towards more sustainable production and responsible growth, while building resilience across the entire supply chain.

This is an excellent opportunity for all farm co-ops. There’s really no excuse not to explore any new initiative to drive your co-op business forward to benefit your farmer members. Contact any of the Co-op Team to find out more.

Co-op fortnight “An altogether different way to do business” runs from 19 June – 2 July ’23

“We are seeing increased demand from people looking to start and use fairer businesses. Co-ops are a better way to do business. By acting collectively we can create fairer and ethical ways to trade, consume and live.” Rose Marley, CEO of Co-ops UK. Find out more at: www.uk.coop/get-involved/campaigns/co-op-fortnight/get-involved