Expanding Coop Access
This proposal is to allow non-members to be able to shop from the coop, while reserving voting privileges to dues-paying members.
Background
The mission of the coop is to provide access to cheap, high-quality, local food to the residents of Ward 2. As a secondary benefit, the coop desires to provide a social environment for its members.
Problem
The size of the active membership is about 5-10 per week, and our weekly purchases from the farmers market are an average of $68.35. While these purchases help the regular members of the coop, they come with two problems:
- we are failing to meet our mission of providing food to people, and
- the farmers are less interested in working with us and giving us discounts because we are failing to bring business to them.
The major hurdles involved in shopping are the geographic restriction (Ward 2), the requirement for a separate payment of monthly dues, and the requirement for a pickup at a specific time and place behind a locked door.
Sale History
| Date | Sale |
| 11/16 | $0.00 |
| 11/9 | $12.05 |
| 11/2 | $137.10 |
| 10/26 | $20.80 |
| 10/19 | $134.90 |
| 10/12 | $33.10 |
| 10/5 | $110.60 |
| 9/28 | $0.00 |
| 9/21 | $132.10 |
| 9/14 | $21.40 |
| 9/7 | $55.85 |
| 8/31 | $161.55 |
| 8/24 | $29.00 |
| 8/17 | $14.05 |
| 8/10 | $137.90 |
| 8/3 | $90.50 |
| 7/27 | $66.30 |
| 7/20 | $86.49 |
| 7/13 | $7.00 |
| 7/6 | $0.00 |
| 6/29 | $84.50 |
| 6/22 | $71.00 |
| 6/15 | $98.40 |
| 6/8 | $76.30 |
| 6/1 | $102.50 |
| 5/25 | $93.60 |
Solution
To increase shopping, this proposal recommends that we open up access to the Meso app to any resident in DC, provided they are willing to pick their order up from the Lutheran church on Sunday (or other negotiated pickup location). Those who shop through us and do not pay dues will be known as customers, in contrast to dues-paying members.
Geographic Restriction
In order to alleviate the first hurdle of geographic restriction, this proposal recommends lifting the geographic restriction entirely and allowing anyone to shop through the coop.
Monthly Dues
Instead of dues, the coop reserves the right to institute a percentage surcharge on each order for non-member customers. This surcharge would be raised in the future if a need is assessed, but based on the greater need for increased order volume than for increased coop funds, this proposal recommends a 0% surcharge to start.
Only dues-paying members would be able to vote at coop meetings.
Customers would be able to vote in non-binding surveys that the coop may decide to issue.
Pickup
Currently, the coop requires groceries to be picked up at the 6pm Sunday meeting. This proposal recommends working with individual apartment complexes to bring in their residents as customers and to deliver their groceries to a single location. The orders would be split out by customer and delivered as a group to the location, coordinating through an order captain. The order captain's role is to facilitate the receipt of the orders and the dissemination to the residents; the delivery agent is not expected to hold onto orders if they are unable to get ahold of the order captain.
While having coop members perform the delivery is an appealing way to keep costs low and maintain relationships with the order captain, food delivery is a job that is fraught with hazard and requires serious capital assets for each volunteer (cargo bike, car, van). Based on the experience of W2MA's grocery deliveries — and how they are shifting to pickup due to the difficult of volunteer-based delivery — this proposal recommends.
Brick-and-Mortar Storefront
Conclusion
We are failing to meet our mission of feeding people. By allowing non-members to shop at the coop and take advantage of our budding relationships with the farmers at the market, we'll be able to feed more people, both in Ward 2 and beyond.