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Cooperatives & Collectives

Fruta Feia runs food rescue as a cooperative, while Colmeia is a community-owned grocery in the Alentejo. Other collectives organise land and labour on the same principle.

10 Projects

Projects in this focus

Cooperatives and collectives in Portugal

The cooperative is an old Portuguese form (agricultural co-ops have run cellars and mills here for generations) and it is being picked up again for food, housing, energy and land. The appeal is structural: members own it, so it cannot be sold out from under them.

Fruta Feia buys produce rejected on appearance and sells it to members in weekly baskets. Colmeia runs a community-owned grocery in the Alentejo. Others organise land, labour or shared equipment on the same principle.

Joining usually means becoming a member rather than a customer. Project pages explain how membership works. Related focuses: community resilience, food sovereignty and ethical shopping platforms. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.