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How Cooperatives Are Driving the New Economy

This is the beta site for our fledgling project which we are planning to launch later in the summer.. However, we will be adding information on our co-op concept, strategies and events while we flesh out our website and eStore. You should also visit our blog and Facebook page (link below) that describes various co-op enterprises.

Our intent is to create an online wine club that features ecofriendly wines primarily utilizing the network of other cooperatives and food stores to alert their members to our excellent vino. And the more cooperators who indicate their desire to purchase particular wines, the greater the reduction in price (see ~Group Buying~ page).

wine.coop is a non-profit venture owned by the members of the
Bay Area Wine Society and others who become members of our cooperative. We seek to become the micro 'consumers choice' alternative to the mighty wine.com whose portfolio of wines are "hand-picked by our staff of experienced buyers!"

No experts ("curators") choose the wines we will be featuring. Instead, we will rely on our members, i.e., regular wine drinkers--people who purchase wine for Tuesday night dinner or for a special occasion--to make up our monthly tasting panels. Members will select a small number of special wines from California's small, sustainable, family owned wineries that have limited exposure and availability in the marketplace.

Online buyers coops are beginning to take off. Check out this article which mentions the role of Meetup.com.

This video provides an excellent overview of what one community, Richmond, is doing to create worker cooperatives. [Here's more info on the Spanish network of cooperatives, Mondragon, which has created 100,000 jobs and has the lowest unemployment rate in Spain by 300%]

And this video underscores the advantages of the coop model.

Further information on the co-op model and its advantages can be foung on our wine.coop blog . Or contact us at info@wine.coop.

Our new facebook Group Page will have links on other cooperative programs around the country.