A member-owned supermarket or grocery store is not so common here in the Philippines except for some grocery stores under large cooperatives. But this member-owned supermarket has a different twist that may click here in the Philippines for thrifty Filipinos.

A supermarket is recently launch in London called the People’s Supermarket. Only members can shop at the People’s Supermarket, but they all get a 10 percent discount on prices as well as a say in how the store is run. In exchange, members pay an annual membership fee of GBP 25, and they also pledge to volunteer four hours of their time per month working as store staff. Because the supermarket’s workforce is nearly all volunteers, staff costs are kept low this way — an advantage that can be passed on in lower prices. Any profits that are earned, meanwhile, get put back into the store to bring down prices even further.

Food co-ops are not uncommon in the US, but it’s interesting to see their reemergence in the UK following a bout of unusually tough times. Could this be a great solution for the Filipinos to end poverty in our country…?