Consumers Cooperative Society

What Consumers Cooperative Society does

Consumers Cooperative Society is a member-owned retail cooperative founded in 1940 by Roy Bazier and a group of community leaders who introduced the cooperative concept to the Iowa City area. Operating under the trade name 'Consumers Coop,' the company provides propane delivery, refined fuels, and Cenex lubricants to residential, agricultural, and commercial customers across Eastern Iowa. Its service infrastructure comprises two physical locations — a headquarters in Coralville (3500 2nd Street) and a secondary site in Kalona (116 7th Street) — supported by bulk delivery vehicles that serve homes, farms, job sites, and businesses throughout the region.

The company's core product portfolio consists of three interrelated energy offerings: propane delivery (with options for scheduled, automatic keep-full, and will-call service, plus tank rental and a 'Summer Fill' savings program), refined fuels (Premium Xmaxx Clear and Dyed Diesel with high-performance additives), and Cenex-branded lubricants marketed for equipment protection and longevity. An optional tank monitoring service with a mobile app enables automated delivery scheduling. The company also offers flexible payment options including pre-pay, monthly billing, and lock-in-your-price budget programs, alongside a 24/7 emergency hotline.

Consumers Cooperative generates revenue through three primary streams: usage-based propane sales and delivery (the core revenue driver), transactional sale of refined fuels at pump services, and transactional sale of Cenex lubricants. The company employs between 11 and 50 people, and operates as a cooperative, meaning it is owned and controlled by its member-customers rather than external shareholders. No parent company, private equity backing, or venture capital investment is indicated. The go-to-market approach is direct-to-consumer, relying on local presence, word-of-mouth, customer testimonials, and inbound inquiries via website contact forms rather than paid advertising or formal sales teams.

Name

Consumers Cooperative Society

Legal name

Consumers Cooperative Society

Website

https://consumerscoop.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Consumers Cooperative Society is a member-owned retail cooperative founded in 1940 that provides propane delivery, refined fuels, and Cenex lubricants to residential, agricultural, and commercial customers across Eastern Iowa from two locations in Coralville and Kalona.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tiffin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Propane Sales and Delivery: Retail propane sales and delivery to residential, agricultural, and commercial customers. Includes scheduled deliveries, automatic fill programs, tank rental options, and 'Summer Fill' savings program. Revenue generated from fuel volume sales and tank rental fees.
2. Refined Fuels: Sale of refined fuels including Premium Xmaxx Clear and Dyed Diesel blended with high-performance additives. Products sold at pump services in Coralville and Kalona locations, with bulk delivery available.
3. Cenex Lubricants: Sale of Cenex brand lubricants for equipment protection and maintenance. Products available at physical locations with delivery options for bulk orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Consumers Cooperative Society is an Eastern Iowa energy cooperative that delivers propane, sells refined fuels (Premium Xmaxx Clear gasoline and Dyed Diesel with high-performance additives), and distributes Cenex brand lubricants to homes, farms, and businesses. The company operates two physical locations in Coralville and Kalona, Iowa, providing pump services, scheduled and automatic bulk delivery, tank rental, and emergency support. Founded in 1940 as a member-owned cooperative, it serves residential heating needs alongside agricultural and commercial fuel requirements across the Eastern Iowa region.

Product overview

Consumers Cooperative Society offers a unified portfolio of energy solutions for homes, farms, and businesses in Eastern Iowa. The core offerings consist of three interrelated services: Propane Delivery (providing reliable home heating and energy with flexible delivery options and tank monitoring), Refined Fuels (Premium Xmaxx Clear and Dyed Diesel products for vehicles and equipment), and Cenex Lubricants (premium lubricants for equipment protection and longevity). These products are delivered through 2 convenient locations in Coralville and Kalona, Iowa, with bulk delivery services extending to residential, agricultural, and commercial customers throughout the region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CenexcoreTechnology or IntegrationCenex is a brand of lubricants and fuels. Consumers Cooperative serves as a distributor/reseller of Cenex lubricants, offering their premium lubricant products to customers in Eastern Iowa. Cenex lubricants are marketed as solutions that minimize downtime and maximize productivity for equipment.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Suburban Propane: Retail propane distributor with focus on residential heating, ag, and commercial customers via bulk delivery. Same core use cases (heating, autogas, ag, commercial) and similar delivery-and-tank rental model.
• AmeriGas Propane: Nation's largest retail propane marketer, serving residential, commercial, and agricultural customers with bulk delivery and tank services. Operates as a national incumbent in the same propane retail/wholesale model Consumers Co-op runs at the local level.
• Ferrellgas: Major retail propane distributor serving residential, commercial, and agricultural customers across the U.S. Closely comparable product set (propane delivery, tank programs, refined fuels) and direct overlap in rural America.

Others

• CHS Inc. (Cenex): Owner of the Cenex fuel/lubricants brand that Consumers Co-op distributes. Largest U.S. ag cooperative and supplier of refined fuels and lubricants to member cooperatives — directly relevant as a brand partner and adjacent wholesale supplier.

Regional players

• Heartland Co-op: Iowa-based agricultural and energy cooperative providing propane, refined fuels, and lubricants to farms and rural customers across central Iowa. Closely comparable Iowa coop footprint, product mix, and member-customer model.
• NEW Cooperative: Iowa farmer-owned cooperative offering grain, agronomy, feed, and energy services including propane and refined fuels to rural Iowa customers. Comparable regional cooperative energy distribution model in the same operating geography.

Direct peers

• Country Propane: Independent retail propane distributor serving rural and residential customers with bulk delivery and tank services. Operates the same use-case mix (home heating, ag, commercial) at a comparable small/regional scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/consumers-cooperative-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Consumers Cooperative Society