Food Co-Op (Page 1/1)
Jake_Dragon OCT 12, 11:03 AM
Anyone ever deal with one of these?
My girlfriend has an interest in one that is starting up locally here. They have a place already and the lease should be signed by December so they can turn on the water.
The guy running it has been at this for 8 years, I think its a great idea but I just don't know if he can get past the vision part of the plan and actually get things rolling.

The "buy in" is $250 for life, once the store is open the board members will get discounts. When the store makes money it will pay dividends at the end of the year to the people that paid the buy in fee.
No one is expecting to get rich or even quit their day job. But for a minimal effort it would be nice to help something that is good for the community.

One of the reasons we are interested is they will be stocking shelves from local farms and businesses. But this is not a farmers market, there will be managers and staff supporting the day to day tasks.
Vendors will deliver product the same way they would to any other store. This will not be ran by a bunch of hippies with armpit hair and punky beards. The idea is to have a place in the community that is ran by the community and not Amazon or some other large retail/food mart.

After seeing what the Pandemic did to our supply chains I think its an excellent idea.

Just wondering if anyone has ever been involved in one of these projects.
MidEngineManiac OCT 12, 02:29 PM
Depends how its laid out.

I got tied up in one a couple years ago. Wasnt very good.

The one I was in, you bought in for $500 iirc, which got you a small freezer and a 1-year membership. You picked a grocery "plan" and bought your meats from them in bulk, which were delivered and billed fresh-frozen monthly. Supposedly the dividends (which never materialized to anything meaningful) could be used as credits to buy more meat each moth, or taken in cash at the end of the year.

Problem was, what sounded like a good idea meat-wise today wasn't such a hot idea in 2 weeks. So I ended up going to the store for what I needed anyway. Plus ended up with a freezer-full of "non-favorite" type stuff

If you are VERY good at making "meal plans" and sticking to them it might be OK and get you some savings (and convenience). If you are more "what do I feel like tonight" its just a waste of time and money, and the dog (and neighbours, and neighbours dogs) end up eating the stuff you didn't feel like having before there was a giant pile of it.

When my year was up I didn't bother renewing. Price-wise they WERE 15-20% cheaper than store prices, but that aint no deal if you dont use the stuff.

[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 10-12-2022).]

Jake_Dragon OCT 12, 07:42 PM


The idea is its ran by people, the employees and the local community. No CEO sitting in his big house sucking the life out of his employees, that job has been replaced by a board. Guess how you get on the board? Click to show

Co-Ops have been around for a long time, it really depends how they are started I guess on how good they turn out.
$250 isn't that much if I loose it, but if there is a fresh food market down the street that doesn't funnel money into Amazon then its probably a good idea.
maryjane OCT 13, 10:58 AM
Not a 'food' co-op but I've been a member of 2 different co-ops. Neither was a really great $$ saver.

One was a rural water co-op. No discount, and in fact the cost of the service was pretty high for the quality of water you got and members got a little dividend at the end of the year. Never saw it more than $100/year.

The other was a agriculture feed mill and farm supply co-op. Again, members paid the same price as the genral public and again a dividend, based on a % of what you spent during the year and how much profit the coop made. The more you bought, the bigger the check was that you got the following January. Sort of like the cash back thing credit cards pay. It cost to join was a one time $10 bill. I again, didn't make a lot of money off it at year's end but the prices there were way below what I paid elsewhere, even considering it was a 199 mile round trip for me.

https://www.producerscooper...om/your-cooperative/

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 10-13-2022).]

maryjane OCT 13, 11:05 AM

quote
Originally posted by MidEngineManiac:

Depends how its laid out.

I got tied up in one a couple years ago. Wasnt very good.

The one I was in, you bought in for $500 iirc, which got you a small freezer and a 1-year membership. You picked a grocery "plan" and bought your meats from them in bulk, which were delivered and billed fresh-frozen monthly. Supposedly the dividends (which never materialized to anything meaningful) could be used as credits to buy more meat each moth, or taken in cash at the end of the year.

Problem was, what sounded like a good idea meat-wise today wasn't such a hot idea in 2 weeks. So I ended up going to the store for what I needed anyway. Plus ended up with a freezer-full of "non-favorite" type stuff

If you are VERY good at making "meal plans" and sticking to them it might be OK and get you some savings (and convenience). If you are more "what do I feel like tonight" its just a waste of time and money, and the dog (and neighbours, and neighbours dogs) end up eating the stuff you didn't feel like having before there was a giant pile of it.

When my year was up I didn't bother renewing. Price-wise they WERE 15-20% cheaper than store prices, but that aint no deal if you dont use the stuff.




I remember one like that here in the USA. Didn't participate since I raised my own meat but if I remember right, their idea of a month's worth of meat was pretty sparse.
Jake_Dragon OCT 13, 11:38 AM
I wouldn't expect much from it, but if it took off it would be nice to have a place that wouldn't close on the whim of a CEO.
During the pandemic a couple of large chains closed. The void was filled by Amazon.

Ralphs who is owned by Kroger closed two stores because of "Hero" pay. Just shut the doors and put up plywood.