Training Program for Managers of Consumer/ Retail Cooperatives 2024
The ICA Committee on Consumer Cooperation for Asia and the Pacific (ICA-AP Consumer Committee) and Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU) held the ICA-AP Training Program for Managers of Consumer/ Retail Coops 2024 from 4 to 17 November in Japan.   Eight cooperative managers from five countries—Singapore, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines—participated in a series of lectures and tours at various facilities of Japanese consumer cooperatives. These included visits to headquarters, retail stores, home delivery centers, food factories, logistics centers, and other related facilities, providing a comprehensive understanding of their operations and best practices.
The training program has been held annually since 1991, with a pause from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic. Last year, JCCU successfully resumed the program. This year, the eight trainees traveled to Japan intending to find solutions to the challenges their cooperatives currently face. These challenges include:
- Operating stores in an aging society
- Implementing initiatives to contribute to the SDGs through their businesses
- Attracting younger members and consumers
- Differentiating their businesses to compete with other retailers
- Integrating IT into their business operations
The program provides valuable insights and strategies to address these pressing issues.
In the first half of the program, they visited the JCCU headquarters in Tokyo to get the big picture of the Japanese Consumer Cooperative movement and learned about its Co-op Brand Products and initiatives to achieve SDGs. The trainees also had a lecture and tour at the Kagawa Archives and Resource Center to learn about Kagawa Toyohiko, the further of the Japanese Consumer Cooperative movement. There were also lectures at the Co-opdeli Group, the largest consumer coop business federation in Japan. The lectures on its home delivery service, store business, and the SDGs initiatives were provided. Following the lectures, the trainees had tours of a coop store and a food factory where the side dishes sold in coop stores are manufactured.
During the second half of the program, they moved from Tokyo to Kobe city by Shinkansen and visited Co-op Kobe, a primary consumer coop with the longest history of the Japanese consumer cooperative movement. They received lectures about home delivery service, store operation, shopping assistance, gathering places for members and local people, environmentally friendly initiatives and initiatives for SDGs, logistic systems, marketing, IT, and Digital Transformation. After each lecture, there were tours of the home delivery center, Co-op Kobe stores, community space, the Eco Farm, and Co-op Kobe logistic center for home delivery and store.
On the last day, the trainees made presentations on their key learning and insights to overcome their challenges and how they plan to adapt these to their coops. The trainees admired the wide variety of ready-to-eat foods and sweets available in co-op stores, which appeal to young people and those with busy lifestyles. The highlighted the innovative approach of contributing to environmental and social causes through product sales—for instance, donating 1 JPY per purchase of specific items for environmental conservation and social initiatives. They were impressed by the coop’s app, which not only provides product information but also serves as a platform for communication among consumer members, coop staff, and manufacturers. Additionally, trainees appreciated the strong commitment to cooperative principles and values reflected in the activities of Japanese consumer coops, such as supporting people with disabilities, the elderly, and those who struggle with shopping.
Participants received certificates of completion and pledged to share the experiences and insights they gained with their cooperatives back home.
