Edible-Alpha® Podcast

Willy Street Co-op is a set of cooperatively owned retail grocery stores in Madison, WI with 35,000 member-owners and about 400 employees across three stores. They have found that operating transparently and openly, emphasizing cooperative ownership and owner literacy, has provided a point of differentiation in the current marketplace.

Dorchesters Farm Food Hub aggregates and tries to ensure consistent supply of seafood and farm products (fruit, produce, livestock) and then redistributes to areas that are historically under-served via direct delivery of fresh and healthy food options, giving its customers lots of choice and flexibility.

Funky Fresh Spring Rolls is a company that produces uniquely flavored, hand rolled spring rolls that are baked or grilled (not fried) with fresh and local ingredients. The Funky Fresh team began selling at Farmers Markets, which in addition to providing early cash flow have functioned as market research labs, allowing them to talk directly to consumers.

ReGrained launched their product at scale in January 2018 after multiple iterations of their product (in the crowded bar category) and now are working with other businesses to help them produce/co-brand new products using their production facility and the expertise embedded in their proprietary process.

The Amazon platform provides a means for small and emerging brands to find an audience and generate sales if they dedicate time and resources to ensure discoverability on the platform by constantly optimizing product pages with the right keywords and features once the user is on the page, in addition to paying for keyword-based advertising.

Ephrata National Bank in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is a $1 billion community bank with 25% of their portfolio funding agricultural entrepreneurs. Lending to support new business models or premium offerings (like value-added processing) can help farmers deal with high land prices and avoid commodity agriculture's low return on assets.

Brix Cider began producing in small batches and self-distributing throughout southern Wisconsin. Their ultimate goal is to open a cider tasting room (increasing margins and cash flow); however, through the struggle to find the right space, they have learned business problem solving skills and financial literacy.

The Great Basin Community Food Co-op serves the Reno, Nevada area. The co-op started as a private buying club and was initially located in the back of a punk record store, but continued to grow their sales and members. In 2008, they opened to the public in downtown Reno with 500 feet of retail space, eventually hitting $1 million in sales in one year. In 2012 they moved to another 3-story location of about 3,000 square feet (on the main floor) even closer to downtown. In 2017, the store had about $4.5 million in sales after rapid growth in previous years. The best way for aspiring co-ops to be successful is by reaching out to their community and meeting their members’ needs. In addition, co-ops should focus on their honing their core priorities so that so they don’t get off track, building capacity and buy-in with a core group of people.

The Great Basin Community Food Co-op first opened to the public in downtown Reno with 500 feet of retail space, eventually hitting $1 million in sales in one year. In 2012 they moved to another 3-story location of about 3,000 square feet (on the main floor) even closer to downtown. In 2017, the store had about $4.5 million in sales after rapid growth.

DROPP Cooperative is a food hub that is a department the Great Basin Community Food Co-op that serves the Reno, Nevada area. Nicole and her sister (now the General Manager) started the retail co-op in 2005 with the grassroots support of their community. Great Basin Started the DROPP food hub informally as a way to get local products into their store. The hub now has about $500,000 in sales and aggregates both local and non-local food. Nicole advises that the best way for aspiring co-ops to be successful is by reaching out to your community and meeting your members’ needs. She also recommends focusing on your core priorities and honing that so you don’t get off track, building capacity and buy-in with a core group of people.