The 'Scottish Wholefood Collective Warehouse' Limited, Trading as GreenCity, was set up in 1978 in answer to the need for a warehousing co-operative to supply existing wholefood outlets.
Four founder members started the co-op but this soon grew to eight workers, meanwhile deliveries expanded from eight to over fifty outlets.
Manufacturing of some products began, such as milled flour and muesli, the latter of which continues today and is one of our most popular products.
The work force continued to expand reaching twelve members by 1980, meeting the demands of customers which by then had increased to over two hundred throughout Scotland and Northern England. Over the years GreenCity experienced difficulties but continued to grow, expanding up to twenty five members and increasing it's turnover to £2.25 million.
Due to the rise in popularity of wholefoods in recent years, GreenCity on its own has been unable to meet demand and now works closely in connection with Highland Wholefoods which supplies the Highlands and Islands.
How we operate as a co-operative : Our decision making process is democratic and therefore run by consensus. We have a management team. This team consists of a elected members from each department including Sales, Warehouse, Personnel and Manufacturing.
GreenCity is divided into groups which deal with specific parts of the business. Each are inter-related and therefore communication has to be maintained to a high standard at all times.
The management team meet on a regular basis which help to ensure the smooth running and development of the Co-operative. When needed, there is also a General Meeting where all the members are present. This deals with issues concerning the Co-operative as a whole and also gives everyone the opportunity to express their views on issues that interest them.
Quarterly and Annual general meeting take place at the appropriate times.
Full Members' meetings, where only full members are present. take place when necessary.
Each full member is entitled to call one when they feel there is a need.
Such meetings discuss employing new people, acceptance of probationary members
to full membership and policy decisions about finance and resources.