Launch of the Manger COOP movement in Quebec

Today, the Manger COOP movement is officially launched in Quebec City. The eight grocery stores operated by the region’s three food cooperatives, Convivio, Coop de Ste-Foy and Coop de Charlesbourg, are all participating in this new initiative by the Fédération des coops d’alimentation du Québec (FCAQ). Manger COOP brings together grocery stores and cooperative producers from across Quebec around a common goal: inviting Quebecers to eat coop.

“The co-op model is very present in food. There are several grocery stores and co-op producers… and yet, people don’t really know it. What we want to do with Manger COOP is tell people: hey, did you know that your local grocery store is a co-op and that the purchases you make there go directly to your community? Plus, it belongs to its members, that is to say, to its community, and you can become a member too,” explains Hélène Francoeur, Executive Director of the FCAQ.

“Encouraging the consumption of products from food cooperatives, as we do with the Manger COOP movement, means allowing our communities to take charge of their food supply and maximize the positive impacts in their communities. Our cooperative was created in 1938, it is owned by our 24,000 members and we have been able to get through the years thanks to the resilience of the coop model. Doing your grocery shopping in a cooperative means allowing your entire community to benefit from a participatory economy and strong involvement in its community. For us, it is a vision of the future,” says Yanic Drouin, General Manager of Convivio, Coopérative.

“We are happy and proud to participate in this movement that really has its place because it meets a need. People do not know enough about the importance and existence of cooperatives; especially in the food sector. Cooperatives have a major impact on the economic and social development of communities. The Coop de Ste-Foy is very involved in its community, whether through job creation, food donations or sponsorships that are given each year to different spheres of activity; education, seniors, sports, the most disadvantaged. People are at the heart! This movement allows us, together, to make ourselves known and the importance of our existence,” adds Brenda Bubar, General Manager of the Coop Ste-Foy.

“Food cooperatives go far beyond simple grocery stores. They embody a model of cooperation where each member has a say and plays an active role. By joining a food cooperative, you become part of a movement that promotes solidarity, mutual aid and sustainable development,” says Steeven Paquette, general manager of the Coopérative de consommateurs de Charlesbourg.

In addition to being deployed on the web, the Manger COOP movement is deployed in-store at participating co-op grocery stores.

“In grocery stores, consumers will be able to discover the Manger COOP imagery, which aims to explain to them in one sentence the impact of their purchase. We also created a customer journey to help people identify products from cooperative producers. Thanks to this display, customers will be able to discover products from Agropur, Nutrinor, Olymel and Microbrasseries coop. Eventually, we hope to be able to welcome even more cooperative producers into the movement,” says Ms. Francoeur.