By Janna Graham, Pocatello Co-Op Outreach Coordinator
At the Pocatello Co-op’s annual meeting and potluck on October 15, Co-op members, staff, Board representatives, and friends gathered to talk about the dramatic highs and lows of the past year, as well as how to maintain a vital and responsive cooperative organization in the long term.
Board Chair Wichita Blundell highlighted the Co-op’s accomplishments, activities, and events over the past year. As part of our concern for community, one of the cornerstones of any cooperative enterprise, the Co-op proudly participated in community events such as the Alternative Gift Market and Ten Thousand Villages Craft Fair and the Portneuf Valley Environmental Fair. This year, we also provided education about the history, structure, and function of co-ops through New Knowledge Adventures (NKA). As always, we featured local artists during the First Friday Art Walk and hosted a free monthly wine tasting. We orchestrated a move to the new location on Center Street, which has proven advantageous: Our new location is larger, has a unique historical flavor, and gets more traffic. And, of course, we opened the Farm Table Café, where hungry customers can find fresh, delicious, wholesome food prepared from ingredients sourced locally whenever possible.
General Manager Jen Alderson and Assistant Manager Karen Martin reported that we recently finished the strongest fiscal year in the Co-op’s history. Despite the inevitable hiccups that come with a change of location, the Co-op is intact and the Farm Table Café has done particularly well. Grocery sales, however, have been down for the last couple of months. This is not without precedent – the Co-op’s leanest months have typically been in early to mid-fall, when home gardens are exploding with fresh produce and the Farmers Market offers an abundant selection before the colder weather sets in. This year, however, there are other factors. For example, we discovered this summer that much of our business came from travelers, people passing through Pocatello for a variety of reasons and stopping by the Co-op for lunch and groceries on the go. Such travelers seek out co-ops to learn about local specialties and eat healthfully on the road. With the summer behind us, so are the road-trippers. (On the plus side, Pocatello’s reputation is enhanced when savvy travelers eager to embrace what’s unique about each locale find a co-op entirely based on community needs.) Paradoxically, the successes enjoyed by the Co-op this summer might also have lulled shoppers into complacency. Members often feel less compelled to shop the Co-op when we’re doing well and the required economic participation seems to be taken care of by others. To top it off, we are facing unprecedented local competition in the “natural” foods market from more traditional businesses with formidable buying power.
We’ve weathered lean times before, and our history tells us to wait it out. In the meantime, staff plans to implement a few temporary measures, such as cutting back hours that tend to be slow and revamping the stock to focus on the most in-demand products. Without question, the Co-op remains committed to improving our grocery selection by offering more local and regional products, and we will continue to seek out new, interesting foodstuffs for the grocery shelves.
In any community, there are so many causes to support. We’re always busy, and our time is valuable. How do we choose? Kim Brown, one of the original founders of the Co-op and a former Board member, points out that the Co-op seems to fill a clear need in our community. “We do get a lot of love and support, positive feedback, and praise,” Brown says. “As always, passion needs to be an action; we need people to invest their time for the Co-op to continue to be successful. Shopping is the byproduct of this passion. It’s a reflection of a belief system as well as an investment.” By shopping the Co-op, we support local food producers and the local economy, strengthen community ties, and promote more healthful food choices and a stable, ethical business model. We buy not only food, but also community – and an alternative perspective on how the world should be. “Pocatello is enhanced by having the Co-op,” says Brown, “and the people who collectively make the Co-op happen.”
