Designing connection: FCO･OP’s sharing economy brings joy to Fukuoka

In recent years, the concept “sharing economy” has spread gradually spreading in Japan. It’s an idea where individuals and companies mutually share their idle resources, thereby circulating and building the economy efficiently, in a wasteless and sustainable manner. It is receiving more attention lately as the key to revitalizing rural areas.

Sharing economies are often represented by modern services such as vacation rental Airbnb and ride sharing Uber. However, when we actually think about the underlying concept of “cooperating,” there are in fact good examples of sharing economies that are close to us, and have existed for a much longer time.

Consumer Cooperative FCO･OP in Fukuoka is one such example. Under the concept “Living together, creating together — life in the region,” there are approximately 500,000 cooperative household members in Fukuoka Prefecture. Over 40% are younger generations in their 20s, 30s and 40s. This is a higher percentage compared to other cooperatives nationwide.

Since FCO･OP is made up of these young cooperative members, they courageously try to experiment. But they also maintain the good aspects of the “cooperating” structure that exists in cooperatives since its beginning. On this occasion, we asked Masakazu Yasumoto, director of FCO･OP cooperative member activities, about its contents.

Food bank for children’s cafeterias

From July 2016, FCO･OP is involved in “Fukuoka Chikushi Food Bank” activities, which specializes in children’s cafeterias in the Chikushi region of Fukuoka Prefecture. Food Bank is the collection of food donations from food suppliers and retail stores, subsequently handing them to people in need.

The communities in local regions also organize children’s cafeterias, which provides free or inexpensive nutritious food to local children. Recently, people are starting to realize its potential to solve child poverty and child isolation. Not surprisingly, these activities are spreading nationwide.

Fukuoka Chikushi Food Bank started out as a food bank that specializes in management support for children’s cafeterias. This is something very rare in Japan. The NPO Child Care Center, which provides regional child rearing support, serves as the management office. FCO･OP provides logistic support by sharing their facilities, know-hows and network. It stocks food supplies donated by cooperating companies and provides training on hygiene management to locals who want to start a children’s cafeteria too.  FCO･OP also serves as a mediator for business related corporations that show interest in the activities.

FCO･OP owns a commodity inspection center and they have strong expertise in food hygiene control. Therefore, it dispatches instructors from the center to hold seminars. These include how to wash their hands properly and how to disinfect with alcohol to local people who want to open children’s cafeterias.

Yasumoto of FCO･OP shared, “Things like, ‘don’t wipe your hands with a hanging towel,’ are actually not properly done. These training sessions are very important because if one accident should happen at a children’s cafeteria, the whole project can get turned down.”

FCO･OP also leverages on its network as a cooperative and receives food donations from their business partners like Miyako Ham and Zennoh Chicken Foods. It also cooperates by providing storage for mostly rice and frozen food at their branch stores for joint purchases.

Furthermore, there are “Food Drives” at FCO･OP’s stores to seek food donations for food bank. These allow cooperative members to effortlessly contribute to society in their daily lives.

Yasumoto described the meaning behind their activities, “There are many people who’ve seen our activities on children’s cafeterias in the newspaper and feel as though they can do it themselves. But once they begin, they soon realize that there are several considerations such as, ‘Where and when should they try it out?’ ‘How will they fund their activity?’ ‘How should they collect ingredients and gather children to come to the cafeteria?’

A food bank provides training for these and puts together the ingredients and funding. Its cooperation with public relations is exceptional too. It’s not only an activity that provides food, but also produces people who are capable of creating a local society.”

The Chikushi area in Fukuoka Prefecture is a commuter town with approximately 400,000 people. It is an area comprised of 5 cities, located in the Southern district of Fukuoka City. According to Yasumoto, there are many families living in the area who have been transferred from other parts of Japan. So, among the people who use the children’s cafeteria, there are many children who have working parents and therefore have to eat alone. Children’s cafeterias function as places where these people can connect through children or food, instead of feeling isolated. Ultimately, the cafeterias serve as a place for newcomers to get inducted into the community.

Original jam from collaboration with disaster-stricken areas

FCO･OP also involves itself in various unique projects other than children’s cafeteria. Among them is a collaboration with JA Fukushima Mirai in creating an original apple and yuzu (citron) jam.

Ever since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, FCO･OP has been taking part in activities to reconstruct Fukushima in cooperation with JA Fukushima Mirai. In order to strengthen their bond, they signed an agreement on July 1, 2017, which happens to be International Cooperative Day, with JA Fukushima Mirai.

Just 4 days after, on July 5th, the Kyushu Northern Heavy Rain struck Fukuoka. It was recorded as the largest amount of damage dealt after WWII. In the agreement, it stated that they should cooperate mutually if a disaster ever occurs, so JA Fukushima Mirai sent large amounts of shovels and salt candies to Fukuoka.

Of course, cooperatives had no shovels, but agricultural cooperatives are deeply involved in agriculture, and knew how to procure large amounts of shovels. When in trouble, support is given through their expertise and resources. Here again lies the spirit of “cooperation,” which is at the basis of sharing economies.

The bond between Fukuoka’s FCO･OP and Fukushima’s JA Fukushima Mirai strengthened through this heavy rain disaster. It led to further discussions on how they could do support each other’s recovery regardless the circumstances. That was when the idea of creating original jams that mixes citrons and apples.

Toho Village in Fukuoka Prefecture, known for its citrons, was struck by the heavy rain. Also, Fukushima Prefecture is known for is apples and peaches. In fact, FCO･OP has been selling Fukushima’s apples and peaches for quite some time. However, the fruits suffered reputation loss because of harmful rumors built upon Fukushima’s nuclear accident. So with scientific research and accurate information, FCO･OP started selling Fukushima’s fruits in Fukuoka Prefecture. The idea for the jam naturally extended from there.

However, FCO･OP thought it wasn’t interesting enough to just make jam. So, they invited apple farmers from Fukushima to visit Toho Village in November 2018. It was when citrons were ripe for harvest, and had them harvest the citrons. By sharing the jam making process, not only did the farmers create the product, they founded a connection between the locals through the business. The jam brought happiness to the citizens of Fukuoka and Fukushima. It also received a great deal of attention from the media. 1,000 sets (total 2,000 pots of jam) was sold in less than a month.

This is a very unique example in which two different regions connect through disaster restoration, and jointly collaborating in a project that supports each other’s recovery.

Making use of existing frameworks

So how does FCO･OP create unique local businesses such as these? Yasumoto explained that the important key is to make the most of “the framework you already have.”

“If you try and do something from scratch, you have to think about how to raise the funding required for the activity. On the contrary, several expertise within FCO･OP’s framework were used to put the children’s cafeteria together.”

Indeed, food bank businesses for children’s cafeterias was only possible because it applied FCO･OP’s resources from their businesses to life, exemplified by their experience of storing food and knowledge on hygiene control. The greatest significance of a sharing economy is the fact that it can produce new values by making use of existing resources at no additional costs.

Hence, creating an entirely new picture may not be the answer when you want to start a business. The shortcut, on the other hand, lies in looking at the resources the company possesses, and carefully reconsidering its values from there.

Sharing economies that form bonds

There is another thing that FCO･OP values upon creating businesses, which is to form “connections” through its activities. Children’s cafeterias connect people who have moved in to a commuter town. Original citron and apple jams connect distant people of Fukushima and Fukuoka through food.

In addition, the Kyushu Northern Heavy Rain also struck the Haki district in Asakura City. A dinner event is held every fortnight at a meeting-house inside one of the temporary dwellings built after the disaster. “We assumed that everyone knew each other, because the participants were all from surrounding villages. But it turned out that many people who came to the dwellings didn’t.” Locals expressed their gratitude for such events, “We are so happy that FCO･OP created these occasions, because we don’t even know our closest neighbors.”

FCO･OP puts sharing economy into practice through “connection” and “cooperation.” It shares its facilities and methods for Food Bank, initiate Food Drives at their stores and provide relief supplies when disasters happen. So, how does Yasumoto understand “sharing economy”, which is both an old and new term?

“We don’t use the term ‘sharing economy’ because it’s complex and it confuses things. But we hold Food Bank activities to give a helping hand and Food Drive activities to get food donations. We also succeeded in collecting a few million yen when the disaster occurred in 2017.

“As a co-op, we have strong capabilities to provide a helping hand when people are suffering. People who are eager to help tend to join consumer cooperatives and agricultural cooperatives. Moreover, people also take actions upon hearing news about children’s cafeterias. These examples show that connections are extremely important.”

Yasumoto is now trying to put together a recreation project. He wants to make miso with local miso makers using soybean and rice of disaster struck areas of the Kyushu Northern Heavy Rain.

Fukuoka Prefecture has the 4th largest land area for soybeans. Recent years have seen a rise in farmers who are switching to make soybeans from rice, which consumption amount is on the decline. FCO･OP connects farmers and children through its cafeterias, supports farmers with their soybean-making and provides homemade miso-soup made from these miso to children. These are all ideas that are shaped by connections.

When we hear the term “sharing economy,” it sounds like a trendy word. But in fact, it’s all about helping each other when people are in trouble, through bonding together, borrowing and renting out ideas and resources, and living together side by side. These existed in Japanese culture from long time ago. Fukuoka’s FCO･OP makes us think about sharing economies that make the local community happy.

This article was originally published on IDEAS FOR GOOD.
Translated by Ayako Karino.