Marketing by the cooperative

Zvi Galor www.coopgalor.com 1. Cooperative Marketing

A marketing cooperative is set up in order to market and sell the surplus produce of its members, being such a surplus, as they cannot consume themselves. Marketing cooperatives generally sell agricultural produce, but there are also those, which sell fish produce or handicrafts. There are also other definitions of cooperative marketing. Margaret Digby defines a marketing cooperative as a system in which a group of farmers join together in order to carry out part or all of the processes involved in bringing the produce from the producer to the consumer. The Bank of India defines a marketing cooperative as a society of farmers, organized for the purpose of helping the members to market their produce, so as to obtain higher profits than is possible by way of private marketing [1].

The reasons for the establishment of such cooperatives are:

When there is a surplus in production over the consumption.

In order to save expenses for middlemen who benefit from the producer in various fields, such as: bad weight, very low prices and loans at high rates of interest.
When the system in force is archaic, it does not meet the requirements at all, involves many middlemen or compensates very weakly for the producer's work. Thus, a marketing cooperative must offer its members a more efficient service than that in force, so that its members obtain a greater profit from their work.

When establishing a marketing cooperative, it is indispensable to study various aspects and problems:

What products shall we produce and sell on the market? Whet, experience in regard to production? What species are marketable every season, quantities and qualities that are preferred? What are the perishable items that can be stored and under what conditions? What is the present marketing