Addressing a misunderstanding about our co-op

There’s a story going around that four individuals "secretly control" Foodstuffs North Island.

It’s been repeated enough that some people have gone looking through our structure and found references to two trusts and four trustees.

That part is true - but what the story misses is why those trusts exist, what the trustees can do, and what they absolutely cannot do.

The reality is that Foodstuffs North Island is a co-operative because it is owned by more than 300 local grocers.

All key decisions - including who joins or leaves, what we invest in, and how we operate - are made by the board of Foodstuffs North Island who are appointed by those members, under the Companies Act and our constitution.

That’s the legal and operational backbone of our business.

In the 1980s, after a takeover attempt, the co-op set up two trusts: the Protection Trust and the Perpetuation Trust. These trusts exist to stop anyone - inside or outside - from buying, selling or dismantling the co-op. The four trustees involved are legally required to uphold that mission. They don’t run the co-op. They don’t get a financial interest in it. They can’t sell it.

Their only power is a veto - to block a proposal that would take Foodstuffs North Island away from being a grocer-owned co-operative.

So yes, there are four trustees. But they’re not "secret owners" - they’re guardians.

If you want an image, think of a wise counsel. But not one pulling the strings. Their purpose is to make sure Foodstuffs North Island always remains a co-operative owned by its members, quite the opposite of the misunderstanding.

This structure doesn’t concentrate power - it protects the collective interest of our members.

It’s not about control, it’s about continuity.

It’s how we’ve stayed a co-op for over 100 years, and how we’ll stay one into the future.

-CQ