KF was founded in 1899 by 41 local consumer co-operatives in order to support them with information and education of store managers and board members.

In the 1930s, KF expanded rapidly during the management of Albin Johansson, setting up various industries in order to support the co-operative grocery stores.

From 1950 to 1970, KF was at the forefront of the Swedish retail trade by developing new and bigger store formats and it was one of the major business groups in Scandinavia.

In the beginning of the 1990s, as a response to a financial crisis, KF decided to sell out all its industries and focus on retail trade only.

The other part is run by local or regional retail cooperatives, even though procurement, logistics and store brands are integrated.