A Facebook post that circulated widely last week said Chico Natural Foods Co-op was facing financial difficulties and it urged residents to help. Right after, the co-op saw a spike in support, and a surge in the number of people signing up as members.
“We had all of these folks join the co-op this weekend,” said the store’s manager Liza Tedesco “I couldn't count the number … I would just see the ownerships online just rolling in. I was like, ‘what's happening?’”
The post was created by Sarah Adams, the owner of the local tea company Chico Chai. She said it received a “record” number of shares for her Facebook page.
The attention delighted Adams, who said the co-op was one of the first grocers to agree to sell Chico Chai. She said the store is a major lifeline for her company, but she also feels it's important to support because of its reinvestment in the surrounding community.
“I know that when I shop at the co-op, the money stays local,” Adams said. “It's not a major corporation where the money is being funneled elsewhere. It's basically going back right into our community, which is where we live. So we're highly invested in that.”
Financial challenges
There are a number of factors over several years that Tedesco said are contributing to the co-op’s current financial hardships.
“It's like taking history and trying to put it onto a Post-it note,” she said about trying to explain the situation leading up to now.
One factor is the rise in big-box stores, like Target, recently starting to carry fresh produce.
Wages have also escalated.
The current minimum wage in California is $16 per hour. Tedesco said the co-op fully supports the recent minimum wage increases, but store sales are not matching them.
“Each year we probably would add $80,000 to $85,000 in increased expenses through just minimum wage increases,” she said.
Tedesco said the rising costs of utilities is another factor that has added strain.
“While I think we're in probably the best position we've been [in] organizationally,” Tedesco said, “financially, it's also very difficult because we've had years and years of loss.”
The co-op underwent remodeling this year, adding a new kitchen, hot bar and more room for ready-made, refrigerated to-go food. Tedesco sees recent additions as reinvestments into the organization that she hopes will soon begin to pay off.
“The hard side of it is just being on the other side of a remodel and not seeing the sales increases that we were hoping.” However, she said, “It’s still very early.”
The customers are the owners
The natural foods store is a consumer cooperative, meaning it’s owned by residents who choose to be dues-paying members who elect the co-op’s board and help make decisions for the store. The co-op currently has more than 2,400 members.
Several similar businesses exist throughout the state, but Chico Natural Foods Co-op is the only market of its kind within about 80 miles of Chico.
“I think it’s pretty cool to have something like this in your community. I think it’s important,” said co-op shopper Madison Moreno, who has been a member since 2014.
As a consumer, knowing where the store’s fresh food comes from is one thing that keeps Moreno coming back to the store as often as possible.
“I love being able to have somewhere where I can get a little bit closer to the food in terms of knowing where it's coming from,” Moreno said. “You can talk to the produce people, who talk to the farmers. So it's definitely a lot more local.”
A main focus of the co-op is to carry produce from local farmers — keeping transactions local. It also invests revenue into local food justice nonprofits through its Round Up Program.
Anna Song, another shopper and member, sees the store as a community.
“I think it brings the people and community together,” Song said. “And then they know what we grow here — what we can share.”
The co-op has operated in its building on the corner of 8th and Main streets since the late 1980s.
Tedesco says while businesses like the co-op fail, “I want to believe that that's not our fate,” she said, “that we're going to make it through. And it's because of this power of community that we've been talking about.”
She sees the cooperative model as a more egalitarian and democratic way of doing business.
“We don't place profit at the center of the directive, we place people, we place product, we place the experience, we place the community and so many things at the center,” Tedesco said. “But as they say, you can't fulfill your mission if you don't have the money behind it.”
