The Co-op has received lots of great feedback since we opened our doors last year – shoppers have praised us for a well-designed store, our vibrant produce selection, and the abundance of locally made goods. One concern we hear quite frequently is that people feel the Co-op is too expensive. Over the past month, we compared our prices to other retailers in town and found, with few exceptions, Co-op prices are lower than those of our competitors.

As a worker-owner of the Co-op, I’m pretty familiar with our pricing, so outside shopping is a unique experience for me. Nearly every time I visit another store, I notice several items that the Co-op sells cheaper. These accounts make it difficult to for me to understand exactly why people think the Co-op is too expensive. After broaching the subject with members and close friends, it became clear that we were really talking about our perceptions, rather than actual numbers. While I could try to convince people that I didn’t think it was true, I had no proof; so I set out to get it.

I was a little nervous at first. What if I was wrong? What if there was just no way our tiny store could compete with super-giant chains? As present as my fears were, the curiosity kept me going forward with what I’d like to call “The Truth Project.”

My first stop: Publix. After comparing the Co-op’s prices on the same or similar items, I was thrilled to discover that out of 60+ things we beat their prices on nearly everything with only few exceptions. This trend continued as I visited other stores.

Through collecting this data, I’ve learned that our prices are insanely competitive. Most of our offerings are organic, fair-trade, natural products, etc. which typically cost more than the majority of things other stores offer. But that’s comparing apples to oranges, or genetically modified oranges at that. So the truth is: yes, organic food is more expensive than conventionally produced food, but we beat our competitors’ prices on nearly everything we carry in common (and that’s before the member discount!).

When I went over the findings with Kathy, our lead grocery buyer, I asked about a couple of the outliers. While our prices were great on most things, we’d see huge gaps around certain products – mostly staple items. She explained that many stores use what the retail industry calls “loss leaders.” Strategically, stores will sell a handful of staple items at a loss to give shoppers the illusion that their store is cheaper. While you might get your almond milk for a dollar less at a big store, you’re actually paying 20 to 80 cents more on everything else. The Co-op does not participate in this game; everything in our store is priced within the same low and even margins. Our prices reflect the actual cost of the product.

Our store, as a cooperative, isn’t profit driven. We want our food to be affordable. We do our best to support local producers and supplement everything else we carry from companies we trust. For the items that might cost 20 cents or even a dollar more, it’s important to remember the bigger picture. We’re recycling, we’re composting, we’re donating food to feed hungry people in our community, we’re paying fair wages, supporting our local economy, and carefully sourcing products we know are good.

Since I started this project, I’ve been particularly tuned into comments about our pricing. I’ve heard some great things from folks in the store and most recently from our newest Store Manager, Mark Bonner, who brings years of experience working with Whole Foods Market. As far as pricing goes, he says we’re doing a great job. “At first glance, I was surprised to see how many great deals the Co-op has. For such a new and small operation, the prices should be much higher. But that’s the difference between a Co-op and corporate places — Co-ops care about people.”

For transparency’s sake, we’re sharing our comparisons with anyone who’d like to see them. You can check out our full report online. We also made some nifty tags to display in the store. Personally, I figure most people have to see it to believe it.

If there’s a particular deal you find at the Co-op, let us know! Write us a Yelp review, check into the store on foursquare, tweet your favorite thing we carry–whatever it is, we invite you to join the conversation.

As always, thanks for your part in supporting Citizens Co-op.

All the best,

Julie Matheney
Proud Worker-Owner

**Big thanks to Tom Hart from The Sequential Artists Workshop for sharing his time and creative genius in making these illustrations**

Agenda items include: The year in review, Amending Articles, Committee News, Election Info, Financial Reports, Store Reports, and an important discussion on member discounts.

 A formal agenda will be sent out in two weeks. More information on our price comparison study coming March 1st.

Mark your calendar. Be there!

The Co-op’s Board of Directors conducts regular board meetings twice a month. All members are encouraged to attend quarterly open board meetings. Meetings are held next door at the CMC or in the Co-op courtyard (weather permitting).
Next open Board meeting dates:
3/13 6:00 (Annual Membership Meeting);
6/12 @ 5:30; 9/11 @ 5:30; 12/11 @ 5:30
Contact Doug: douglasnesbit@gmail.com
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Marketing Committee

Co-op members are welcome to participate in a variety of marketing and advertising endeavors. The committee meets the 1st weds of the month @ 5:30 at Atlantic Design (1502 NW 6th St).
Contact Lucian: lucian1000@yahoo.com
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Membership Committee

Members are welcome to attend meetings and suggest ways for the Co-op to better serve and represent the values of its members.
Contact Wes: hoganwes@gmail.com
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Store Development Committee

Members are encouraged to attend meetings and help us strategize improvements to the store, courtyard, parking lot, and front yard. Contact Neal: npdevine@aol.com
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Product Ethics Committee

The Product Ethics Committee seeks to engage membership in discussions related to product procurement. Co-op members are encouraged to attend meetings and voice product preferences.
Contact Robert: burton@citizensco-op.com
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Finance Committee

The Finance Committee meets as needed to discuss financial issues and strategies. If you have financial/business expertise to contribute, please contact Gretchen: gretchenmcintyre@gmail.com
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Committee information is also posted on the Citizens Co-op website at www.citizensco-op.com. Click on the Co-op calendar for meeting times.

Ever wonder what all that tiny text on the packaging is about? I always thought it was an ironic joke for the people that like to read the ingredients on their shampoo bottles while showering….but it turns out there is an interesting story behind it all.

Dr. Bronner is a self-proclaimed rabbi who escaped from a mental institute and made “magic soap” that would become a counter-culture cleaning product and a product in stores just like Citizen’s Co-op all over.

He lost his parents in the Holocaust, but his faith in humanity was not shaken and he was determined to make a soap that would bring people together.

Watch the Trailer.

For the full story behind the suds, join us at the CMC on February 25 at 7 p.m. for the screening of this bittersweet documentary.

Also check out this short education video: “Dr. Bronner’s Fair Trade Palm oil: Animated”

The Bronner’s Company was also kind enough to send plenty of samples so come watch this film with us and take home some free soap!

ALL-ONE!

These small batch handcrafted delights are a Gainesville favorite and made from responsibly-sourced high-quality ingredients. This Valentine’s, Armadillo Chocolates is offering chocolate dipped strawberries at $14 a box.

These delicious strawberries are dipped at their peak. Each box contains six ripe and luscious chocolate dipped strawberries decorated with a few scattered (and edible) candied zinnia flower petals. Armadillo uses pesticide-free strawberries from Norman’s Farm, just 25 miles away, (conventional strawberries come from almost 3,000 miles away!) dipped in rich 65% Rainforest Alliance Certified chocolate from Ecuador via Vintage Plantations Chocolate, an artisanal chocolate manufacturer in Hoboken, NJ. Each pretty kraft box is wrapped in a silky red ribbon with a large label for you to write an intimate note to your beloved.

Call the store to find out if any are available for 2/14.

We highly recommend that you consume these within 1-2 days with your lover, in whatever way you see fit.

Please add any gift instructions in the Notes Field during paypal checkout!! You will be emailed when your gift is ready for pick-up.

There’s been a lot of buzz these days about the new grocery store, Trader Joe’s, coming to town. I wanted to offer a little food for thought on the subject. First, I celebrate the attraction of a major corporation like TJ’s to our growing Gainesville business community. It will most likely pull additional residents, traffic, and tourism through the Archer Road area, and into an abandoned strip mall space in Butler Plaza. Its arrival will offer another option for natural and organic foods in town and to the West side communities. Its definitely a sign of our progressive Gainesville spirit at work.

At the Co-op, with our very business rooted in nurturing the relationship between people and the food we eat, I have a few concerns over the hype. Trader Joe’s is generally regarded as a green business, and has successfully branded themselves as the affordable alternative to other values-based food stores. But it seems to be more realistic to say that they sell food for a little less money with a lot less value and care. (Reference this article in the alternative press.)

In order to offer foods at low prices, the cost of that food has to be cut somewhere along the production chain – whether it’s subsidizing industrial farming with our tax dollars, which subsequently makes it tougher for our small and more sustainably-operated farms to have a fighting chance, massive “organic” farms that pay low wages and devastate the landscape and water resources, or giant factories in China that process foods under little to no regulation and then ship it back over to us in pretty “All Natural” packages. The truth is that food is not cheap. So if it’s being sold at little cost to us, the greater cost is taking a toll somewhere else.

At the Co-op, we really are making an honest attempt to encourage foods being grown in healthy places at a scale that makes sense, contributing to growing a more local food economy, offering our local farmers capital for the true value of their work, and creating a marketplace where our customers are provided with transparency and accountability – whether its regarding the products on our shelves or in our operating practices. (Reference Sustainable Industries’ concerns about TJs in this article.)

SOURCING.
We prioritize our purchases from local producers and vendors whenever possible. We supplement, when necessary, with the best, most wholesome, and environmentally-sensitive and socially responsible foods and products available.

MINIMAL WASTE.

• We compost 100% of our food waste, which is currently not possible on a larger scale.
• We reduce packaging by supplying many staple items in bulk. From flours, sugars, grains, and beans to body care, laundry soap, and baking yeast. All you have to do is bring in your own bottle to refill, or buy a very affordable one in the store.
• Pick up your produce and put it right into a cloth bag. No plastic wrapping here!
• All packaging used in-house is biodegradable and compostable.

GROCERY SHRINKAGE.

• A typical grocery supermarket throws away almost $10,000 of food every day.
• The Co-op shrunk only $450 worth of goods last month that went out of date, but composted and gave away almost all of that.
• We’re constantly refining our method of ordering products to keep in stock just what is going to sell each week.

COMMUNITY.

• The Co-op is 100% driven by our community. We started this store because over 800 people in the community said “YES!” to having a Co-op in our town just a few years ago.
• We adapt and change and grow every day with suggestions from the community.
• We are directed by a voluntary board of directors elected from within the community.
• We are staffed by fellow owners who believe strongly in what we’re doing.
• We give 100% of profits back to the community.

We are all in this together. Citizens Co-op came to be due entirely to community effort and we can survive, and thrive, with the participation of all of our owners. This Co-op belongs to you. As we will continue to need you and your support, we’ll be here – a hearth for our local food family to gather, celebrate, learn, and grow.

So keep it local. Keep it real. Stick with us and keep it at the Co-op.

See you in the store!