Quay Co-operative (Cork) Limited, trading as Quay Co-op, is a worker cooperative operating a number of organic, vegetarian wholefoods shops, coffee docks and a restaurant in Cork City and County Cork. It opened in May 1982.[1]
History
The Quay Co-op grew out of a group of feminist, environmental, lesbian and gay, and other social justice activists in the 1980s who set up an alternative resource centre and community space in the city of Cork. The co-op opened in 1982. It was originally set up as a community cooperative with a wider membership, and was operated on a voluntary basis.[2]
As the centre started to develop other activities including a wholefoods buying club and a restaurant, the co-operative began to require a clearer commitment from members to provide their labour as a condition of membership. This had the effect of reducing the membership from over 100 to around 40 people. As the activities of the co-operative became more complex and formalised, the co-operative transitioned from a community-owned model to a worker-owned model.[2]
Celebrity chef Denis Cotter