MEANING OF COOPERATIVE MARKETING

Cooperative marketing organisations are association of producers
for the collective marketing of their produce and for securing for the
members the advantages that result from large-scale business which an
individual cultivation cannot secure because of his small marketable
surplus.

H. Calvert di defines cooperation “as a form of organisation,
wherein person voluntarily associate together as human beings, on the
basis of equality for the promotion of the economic interest of
themselves”. Whereas Prof. Paul Lumbert has defined that “Cooperative
society is an enterprise formed and directed by an association of users,
applying within itself the rules of democracy and directly intended to
serve both its own members and the community as a whole”.

From the definitions discussed above, we may conclude that a
cooperative organisation is a voluntary business organisation established
by its members patrons to market farm products collectively for their
direct benefit. It is governed by democratic principles, and savings are
apportioned to the members on the basis of their patronage. The
members are the owners, operators and contributors of the commodities
and are the direct beneficiaries of the savings that accrue to the society.
No intermediary stands to profit or loss at the expense of the other
members.