What if your weekly grocery shop could support your neighborhood, local producers and a fairer economy? In this episode, we’re joined by Johanna Kühner, co-founder of SuperCoop — Berlin's first democratically organized supermarket.

SuperCoop is much more than just a place to shop, though. It's a thriving experiment in community-supported entrepreneurship. With around 1,800 members actively shaping everything from product selection to governance, SuperCoop is a powerful example of what can happen when people come together to reimagine economic participation.

Johanna talks about the early days, from raising money and setting up the cooperative to establishing a fully functioning market where everyone takes responsibility and all decisions are made transparently. We also discuss how knowledge flows through networks, how collaboration can foster resilience, and how this model could inspire others to follow suit. Rather than standing alone, SuperCoop aims to become part of a broader ecosystem of cooperative initiatives that advocate inclusion, fairness and long-term sustainability.

We discuss the concept of letting go of hierarchy, designing systems differently and creating spaces where people can both produce and consume. Johanna shares her insights from SuperCoop and her experience of working in politics at Geno.Digital, offering a vision for a more democratic business future.

This is a conversation about courage, community and the transformative power of collective ownership. Out 7 July, wherever you like to listen to a podcast.

The podcast is part of the Leuphana Social Innovation Community. We want to connect social innovations, social entrepreneurs in an innovation community setting, where we learn from each other, make knowledge and innovative ideas tangible and visible. 

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction of Johanna Kühner / SuperCoop

04:25 – Vision and Impact of SuperCoop

07:52 – Understanding Community

11:12 – Ownership and Decision-Making

16:46 – Understanding Scaling

22:52 – Game: Enterprise, Impact or Community?

Background

The podcast is part of the Leuphana Social Innovation Community at Leuphana University of Lüneburg. We want to connect social innovations, social entrepreneurs in an innovation community setting, where we learn from each other, make knowledge and innovative ideas tangible and visible.