They are all large, well-known firms in the food industry. But Land O’ Lakes, Ocean Spray, and Sunkist have more in common than the industry they share or the fact that their annual sales are in the billions of dollars. They are all cooperatives. What is a cooperative? Like the local farmer’s coop or the electric co-op found in most areas, they are firms that are owned, controlled, and operated by a group of users for their own benefit. They share in the control of the firm on the basis of a one-member, onevote principle. Any earnings generated by a...

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