Category:Cooperative

Agricultural cooperatives got their start in San Jose in the 1890's, giving farmers a way to band together and attempt to keep some of the profit going to speculative fruit packers. Several co-ops started during this time period: the Willow Glen Fruit Union, West Side Fruit Growers Association, East Side Fruit Growers Union, Campbell Fruit Grower's Union, and so on.

A history of cooperatives notes that several (West Side Fruit Growers Association, East Side Fruit Growers Union, and Campbell Fruit Growers Union) formed a common sales agency called the California Fruit Association.

Many of the cooperatives faded away after 1900 because of business pressures or farmers selling outside the system. The California Prune and Apricot Growers (Sunsweet) pulled some of the remaining co-operatives together in 1917, and created a single, long-lasting growers cooperative for the prune and apricot growers.