10 things you need to know about MILA
1. Supermarket
MILA will be a supermarket and not a small grocery store. MILA offers enough space for a varied, wide and affordable range of products.
2. Full range
You’ll find everything you need for your daily needs at MILA. Our aim is to make it worthwhile for all members to shop at MILA without having to look elsewhere.
3. quality of the products
Our focus is on organic and regional food, but we also offer conventional products. Why? Because we want to enable more people to buy organic, but some organic products are more expensive and our members would otherwise look elsewhere for conventional products.
4. Co-determine product range
Every member can suggest products, but nothing is strictly forbidden. Why? If we exclude certain products, we could exclude potential members and penalise entire groups. Whether a product remains in our selection depends on whether it is bought by our members.
5. origin of our products
MILA works with farmers, farmers’ cooperatives and wholesalers. Why? It is more ecologically sustainable and saves costs in logistics if we use existing infrastructure and production communities instead of transporting food from many individual farmers to the city separately.
6. low and transparent prices
MILA has a fixed surcharge of 30 % on all products. Why? Because we focus on favourable, fair and transparent prices for our members and not on opaque profits and price gouging of our producers.
7. diverse range
Our product range combines social and ecological concerns. Why? Because we strike a balance between various criteria such as taste, price, environmental protection, regionality, seasonality, animal welfare, artisanal production, labour rights and cultural preferences.
8. join in
All members are actively involved and spend 3 hours every 4 weeks in the supermarket. Nobody can buy their way out. Why? So that people with lower incomes don’t have to work for those with higher incomes and we can meet on an equal footing. Participation enables favourable prices for everyone at MILA.
9. co-determination
All members, who are also co-owners of the MILA co-operative, make decisions together. Strategic decisions are made by the Executive Board, which is elected by the members. This is democratic co-determination and enables alternative economic activity.
10. Clear decision-making structures
Operational decisions are in the hands of the full-time employees. Why? Because their daily work gives them a knowledge advantage and enables them to run the organisation effectively for us.