Cooperative gift guide (DE/EU edition)
Dear readers,
unsurprisingly, we love to support worker-owned and cooperative businesses over here at Village One … so we thought it might be nice to share a list, in case you’re still looking for a last-minute gift or simply want to treat yourself. No affiliate links, just honest recommendations for organisations that make the world a little more equal, empowering and democratic. Let’s dive in!
Duralex glasses
Chances are you’ve seen these iconic French glasses before. In 2024, the company was taken over by its employees, forming a worker-owned cooperative. Read about the story here, find their shop here. Everyone needs quality glasses, so this is an easy pick!
ROTERFADEN
ROTERFADEN produces paper/analog organizers and calendars, with great attention to detail and a focus on sustainability. Last year, its founder Beate transferred ownership of the company to a cooperative structure, inviting her team to become co-owners. Here’s an article in German about the transition and this way to their website + shop. Highly recommended!
Coffeeeeee!
Coffee makes a great gift, but it’s also often produced under exploitative conditions. We’ve met a bunch of coffee collectives over the years, who really care about the whole journey. Check them out: Flying Roasters, Quijote Kaffee, Café Libertad, Café Chavalo, Aroma Zapatista.
Soap, tea and chocolate
Looking for something consumable that’s not coffee? We’ve got you covered: How about getting some tea from Scop-Ti in France? Or soap from Vio.Me in Greece? Arte even made a documentary about them. Looking for chocolate? Take a look at Equitable, a cooperative working with other smaller co-ops to produce sustainable and organic chocolate.
Drinks, drinks, drinks
There are a bunch of collectives and cooperatives out there that produce various drinks:
Kolle Mate / zickzack-Kollektiv (various lemonades, mate)
Premium Kollektiv (beer, lemonade, mate)
Habitat Weine (wines from a cooperative vinyard)
Movie night: „Ohne Chefs“ / “Without Bosses”
In this documentary about collectives and cooperatives, film maker Mario Burbach interviewed workers who run companies without traditional hierarchies. It was released just this year, half of our team has seen it, and we still talk about it often. Watch the trailer here and find out where it’s being shown on the movie’s website.
Board games
Tesa Collective makes progressive board games with titles such as “Space cats fight fascism”, “Strike: the game of worker rebellion” and “Co-opoly: a game of skill and solidarity, where everyone wins or loses”. We haven’t played them yet ourselves, but we’ll eventually get one for an upcoming team week. Check them out!
Books
Our favorite feminist book store is “She said” at Kottbusser Damm, in Berlin. They are not yet a cooperative, but planning to become one, and regardless, every local book shop is worth supporting. Learn more about them and take a look at their online shop. They also sell vouchers, if you can’t decide what to get!
Bikes
A bike shop that’s also a collective? Hell, yes! If you’re in Berlin and need to get your bike serviced, Radspannerei is the place to visit. Looking for something more fancy? We recently learned that Spanish bike manufacturer Orbea is a worker-owned cooperative, part of Mondragon. Read more about their values here.
Trumpets, tubas and trombones
On the off-chance that you or someone you know cares deeply about brass instruments: Miraphone is a worker-owned manufacturer of musical instruments from Germany. They’ve been around since 1946 and you can find a short video with impressions on YouTube. Then take a look at their collection!
Supporting cooperative journalism
The German cooperative newspaper taz is collectively owned by more than 25k readers and they have an unusual initiative: You can sponsor a weekly newspaper subscription for a person in prison, establishing an important link to the outside world. Learn more about “taz in den Knast”. Other German journalism cooperatives worth supporting would be Krautreporter and Riff Reporter.
Other cooperative gift guides
Need more inspiration? We’ve found a bunch of other cooperative gift guides, but most of them are US-centric. If that’s where you live or you’re simply curious, then here’s a list:
Yes Magazine: 18 Holiday Gift Ideas—From Co-ops (from 2015)
Co-op Gift Guide from Wedge (from 2023)
Why not become a cooperator yourself?
Some of the organisations on this list are owned by their workers, but others feature open membership, so you’re able to become a co-owner, too. Wouldn’t it be cool to own a piece of a vinyard, a newspaper or even a supermarket? Something to ponder over the holidays!
Did you end up buying something based on this list or know of a co-op we forgot to mention? Do let us know!
Wishing you calm holidays,
Doro, Harry and the Village One team