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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.

2 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.

Where these projects are