Article
Background
Good and healthy food is often expensive and profits go to shareholders. As a food activist and entrepreneur for over 10 years, Sem now focuses his Action Project on addressing the pressing issues he sees in the food system. He is working to open the Cooperative Supermarket, turning the profit model into a cooperative model to make good and healthy food affordable. Based on Cooperative Supermarkets already established in cities like New York, Paris, Brussels, and Berlin, Sem is bringing that same vision to Amsterdam. The idea is a supermarket owned and run by its members. No shareholders, no profit, just people working together to make quality food more affordable as well as reconnect with where it comes from.
Advice I would give to someone else trying to undertake a similar project? Just start! (And send me an e-mail, super happy to think along.)
Approach and Methodology
Sem’s Action Project began with research into how to open a cooperative supermarket, followed by a series of documentary screenings to spark public interest and introduce the concept. As momentum built, a co-founder joined the effort, and the project raised initial seed funding to begin laying the groundwork. The methodology draws inspiration from cooperative supermarket models in cities like New York, Paris, Brussels, and Berlin, where communities have taken control of their food systems by creating stores run not for profit, but for people. At the heart of this model is the belief that everyone deserves access to good food, fair prices, and a fairer system.
The Cooperative Supermarket approach emphasizes community ownership and shared labor. Members contribute a few hours of work in the store every four weeks in exchange for access to healthy, high-quality food, up to 40% cheaper than in traditional supermarkets. This alternative structure not only counters the increasing unaffordability of nutritious food, but also addresses deeper systemic issues in the food chain. Members benefit in many ways: healthier diets, participation in a meaningful community, transparency and connection with producers, and significant financial savings, estimated at around €2,000 per year per household, or roughly €50 per hour of work contributed.
Impact
With the Cooperative Supermarket, Sem impacts 100 individuals directly. This group is made up of attendees of the documentary screenings and people involved in the project. Indirectly, as many as 5000 people are estimated to benefit through the ability to shop in the Cooperative Supermarket.
Next Steps
Sem believes the opening of the Cooperative Supermarket is not far off, given the strong enthusiasm and growing support around the project. The next steps are clear: gather more committed people to help build the initiative, secure a location of at least 1,000 square meters in a major Dutch city, and raise additional funds to bring the vision to life.