Only individuals (not businesses, organizations, or groups of people) can own shares, and each individual is limited to a total of 10 shares, regardless of the class of share. However, members of the same household are eligible to own 10 shares each. For example, a married couple could each purchase 10 shares, for a total of 20 shares/votes for their household. An individual can also invest in different classes of shares, but the total number of shares owned cannot exceed 10. This ensures that no one individual controls the business, keeping it a truly cooperative enterprise. Also note that any adult in the United States can become an owner of the cooperative.

Every share purchased is associated with one vote, and all shareholders have the opportunity to be elected to our Board of Directors at our annual Meeting of Owners. All shareholders will be included in all shareholder communications and invited to all owner meetings. However, shareholders have the right but not the obligation to participate in the cooperative's decision making. This means they can take on as much responsibility as being a board member (which does bear specific obligations) or as little as never voting or attending meetings. You, as an owner of the cooperative, can make of it what you wish.

The main difference between preferred and common stock is that preferred stock is associated with an interest rate of 4% payable annually until repayment of principal, while common stock is associated only with consideration for dividend payments when available. All decisions regarding payment of dividends to shareholders are at the discretion of the Board of Directors. There is no principal repayment of common stock.

Interest on preferred stock will begin to accrue when the co-op commences business operations (i.e., has its grand opening; likely summer/fall 2022) and will be paid annually as long as the co-op is financially capable of doing so. Principal payoffs are at the Board’s discretion (and with the intention of paying off within 5–10 years). After repayment of principal and accumulated interest, each share is converted to Common A stock.

FarmFED Co-op plans to work with both conventional and certified organic growers. This of course becomes complicated when organic produce comes in contact with non-organic produce, threatening the growers’ certification and market premium that goes with it. This can be addressed by either offering satisfactory prices to all types of growers, or by creating clear protocol for differentiating produce within the facility. This protocol may wind up making it easier for organic growers to use the custom processing services of our facility rather than its bulk buying program (learn more below) to maintain their farm's values identity. Regardless, our cooperative has both organic and conventional growers as owners, and their voices are being heard as we continue to develop our standard operating procedures.

Growers can interact with FarmFED’s operations in four distinct ways:Bulk buying: Growers sell produce to the cooperative in bulk through arranged contracts.Custom processing: Growers arrange to have their produce processed at the cooperative for a fee.Cold storage: Growers rent refrigerated or frozen storage space in the facility.Commercial kitchen: Growers rent the licensed commercial kitchen to add value to their farm’s products and be able to sell to more markets.

Please see Our Operations page for our updated services and products list.

Our FarmFED business model is a new and developing approach to expanding the local food system and we are open to considering all options. Individual farmers or farm aggregators can contract with FarmFED to produce the type of processed foods their customers want. Processing can save money for those customers by reducing staff and building costs. For example, instead of buying whole garlic, the customer could receive peeled garlic cloves, frozen raw or roasted before freezing. The flavor remains but the labor of peeling is avoided.