The Portland Food Co-op in the India Street neighborhood is expected to open its 5,000-square-foot storefront within the next few weeks.
The Bangor Daily News reported that the upcoming storefront opening follows other developments across the state, including the opening of a co-op in Houlton. The number of food co-ops in Maine was expected to nearly double this year, as previously reported by Mainebiz.
The Portland Food Co-op had been operating as buying club. As the buying club transitioned into a co-op over the past year, membership has increased from 450 to 1,400. The co-op’s owners said that figure could reach 2,000 before the storefront opens.
“Selling to stores helps small farmers feed into the local food movement. The idea of having co-op businesses is a really exciting way for folks to be involved in building the local economy and the local food system,”Rachelle Curran Apse, a board member of the co-op, told Mainebiz earlier this year. “And compared to a farmers market, we’re open seven days a week.”
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Food co-ops on the rise as Mainers seek local foods, buying power