HOW THE ROCHDALE SUCCEEDED

How All Cooperative Farmers Association can guide us

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was a group of 10 weavers and 20 others in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, that was formed in 1844. As the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution was forcing more and more skilled workers into poverty, these tradesmen decided to band together to open their own store selling food items they could not otherwise afford. With lessons from prior failed attempts at co-operation in mind, they designed the now famous Rochdale Principles, and over a period of four months they struggled to pool one £1-0-0 per person for a total of 28 pounds of capital. On 21 December 1844, they opened their store with a very meager selection of butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and a few candles. Within three months, they expanded their selection to include tea and tobacco, and they were soon known for providing high quality, unadulterated goods. Ten years later, the British co-operative movement had grown to nearly 1,000 co-operatives.

After passing through a such a tedious situation, “Industrial Revolution” as mentioned above,  the Pioneers decided it was time shoppers were treated with honesty, openness and respect, that they should be able to share in the profits that their custom contributed to and that they should have a democratic right to have a say in the business. Every customer of the shop became a member and so had a true stake in the business. At first the co-op was open for only two nights a week, but within three months, business had grown so much that it was open five days a week.

Today and tomorrow we will be carrying out one of our obligations to the continuing life of the International Co-operative Movement. Like co-operative leaders in other generations we will be re-examining our Movement's basic principles and reconsidering its fundamental purposes.

Co-operatives started out as small grassroots organizations in Western Europe, North America and Japan in the middle of the last century, however, the it is the Rochdale Pioneers that is regarded as the prototype of the modern co-operative society and the founders of the Cooperative Movement.
In 1844 a group of 28 artisans working in the cotton mills in the town of Rochdale, in the north of England established the first modern co-operative business, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society. The weavers faced miserable working conditions and low wages, and they could not afford the high prices of food and household goods. They decided that by pooling their scarce resources and working together they could access basic goods at a lower price. Initially, there were only four items for sale: flour, oatmeal, sugar and butter.