Kooperativa Förbundet

Kooperativa Förbundet, often abbreviated CF, is a Swedish consumer cooperative and the umbrella organization of about 60 consumer associations in Sweden, which together have about 2.9 million members. It is based in Stockholm.

History to 1945

The Kooperativa Förbundet, KF, was founded as a Swedish consumer co- operative Wholesale Society on 4 September 1899. As a model acted the British co-operative movement, especially the British Co-operative Wholesale Society. The idea was to offer the Mitgliedsgenosssenschaften cheap and high quality goods of daily demand for resale and combat monopoly tendencies in the trade. The gain should, after necessary investments flowing back again to the members.

At the founding of KF even bourgeois-liberal Gennossenschaftsbefürworter were active, such as Gerhard Halfred of cooking. However, the consumer cooperative movement was due mainly to the less privileged part of the population, so the movement of the cooperatives Förbundet is also closely intertwined with the Swedish labor movement. KF was initially exposed Delivery blockades of major suppliers ( for example from the margarine industry ), so it soon became necessary to produce in own factories and offer their own brands. This led to the KF in the interwar period ran a highly active anti-monopolistic policy below its long -standing and charismatic General Albin Johansson. 1921 launched the first own margarine factory in Norrköping and soon KF was able to reduce the margarine prices. In step with its own expansion KF could gradually reduce the food costs for its members. Non-food products were added, for example, called for KF with its own production of incandescent lamps ( luma), the international cartel bulbs out. Other areas of self-production related to porcelain ( Gustavsberg ) and rubber products such as galoshes and later tires ( Gislaved ). These were in the store chains of the member cooperatives (consumption) and own department stores, for example ( PUB, 1934, Domus, from 1956, from 1970, sold in self-service wholesale stores Nobs! . In his own architectural office ( KFAI ), which existed until the 1970s the factories, department stores and consumer stores were designed by renowned architects. During the 1930s KF was one of the most important companies in Sweden and dominated in retail.

History after 1945

After the Second World War, opened new European and overseas markets, more free trade was the motto. The tendencies of the private retail merchants to organisiseren be intensified and consumer stores have growing competition from chain organizations such as ICA. Again and again had to help out financially troubled individual member cooperatives, leading to tensions with the better economic outgoing members according to the umbrella organization KF. On top of that competing companies in retail not to include also excellent and affordable products to the range of KF were ready. The economic benefits of their production disappeared as more and more because it was cheaper to import finished products. Consequently, KF chose during the 1970s and 1980s, the way to set the production of goods and means of production to sell. So could the necessary structural change in the Swedish consumer cooperative movement, ie the degradation of the federalist model and the transition to a more unified group structure, to be financed. End of the 1990s, together with the Danish and Norwegian consumer cooperatives, joint-stock company formed Coop Norden. In 2007, the collaboration was ended again.

KF today

For KF the conversion process was long after 1980, heavy and complicated. Had the early years of the 21st century for the Group very little in common with the glossy period 1930 to 1970. KF has lost significant market shares in the Swedish competitor ICA and cheap price chains such as Lidl. In 2006, however, KF was again a profitable company with annual sales of about 2.6 billion euros.