Last week we had a visit from two reporters for the Asahi Shimbu, one of Japan’s leading newspapers, who are working on a feature about co-operatives. Apparently there’s a lot of interest in Japan about the co-op model and since the UK is the birthplace of the co-operative movement they’re visiting a number of businesses across the country.

It was great to spend a couple of hours getting into the nuts and bolts of how Loaf operates and how it differs from places we’ve worked before Loaf. To have someone question the things we take for granted – such as everyone getting paid the same rate and all decisions being made democratically – is healthy and we were able to confidently make our case.

We’re not sure when the article will appear – we were one of the first co-ops they’ve visited and they want to see some larger ones, like our supplier Suma, for contrast – but we’re looking forward to seeing what they made of us!

If you’re reading this as a member of a co-op and would like to be put in touch, let us know.