Through the missions set itself by the non-profit organisation BEES&Co and soon the cooperative BEES, discover here under the values and missions that bring us together.
Values
Sustainability
BEES Coop promotes products derived from process observing respect for mankind and its environment, and it gives priority to sustainable products from fair trade.
We give priority to local producers, short circuits, products ecologically grown, seasonal products, we fight against food waste and we support reduction of wraps by promoting bulk food.
Solidarity
Aware of the cultural and socio economic diversity of Brussels’ population, BEES Coop works out to make sustainable food available to everyone. Through food, BEES Coop becomes a space for living and communicating that promotes diversity and mutual assistance, strengthening thereby the social network of our city. BEES Coop also encourages the setting up of a close and united partnership with each of its associated producer.
Members’ participation
All the co-operators participate to BEES Coop’s functioning and the supermarket’s management. The members decide together on the BEES Cooperative’s orientations while participating to several mechanisms (general assembly, team construction work, work groups, surveys, etc.). This is the self-governance model within which each member occupies an equivalent role.
Accountability
BEES Coop promotes accountability both concerning its functioning and its products’ origin.
BEES Coop builds up a fair price policy: the most accessible price for all consumers while paying properly the producer for his work.
Cooperation
BEES Coop is an “open cooperative”. BEES Coop wants to share its model through the use of open and shareable licences rather than operating according to a competition model. Therefore, BEES Coop encourages partnership with other initiatives supporting the same social, economic and environmental objectives.
Tasks
Sharing these values, BEES Coop gives itself several tasks:
- To enable access to sustainable food access to the utmost people;
- To incite local economy growth by creating long-term partnerships with local and regional producers;
- To create a convivial area enabling the reinforcement of social cohesion;
- To build up a fair price policy: the most accessible price to all consumers while paying properly the producer for his work;
- To adopt a policy of transparency regarding ithe products available, as well as the functioning of the supermarket;
- To raise awareness of nowadays consuming habits and its consequences on our health, our ecology, our economy, etc., among the general public;
- To fight against food waste and overwrap by promoting the sell of bulk food;
- To support a cooperative model and a social innovation through the open source spread of developed tools and knowledge.