1. ADDED NOTES ON THE ONION RIVER CO-OP
Early on in the process of deciding on a new supermarket for downtown Burlington, it was clear that prices at the old Onion River Co-op were competitive with those of other supermarkets when it came to conventional foods. This is because Onion River was much larger than most co-ops and thus had greater buying power. Overall some prices were higher and others were lower but they averaged out (Organic foods are on average 40 percent more expensive than conventional foods.)
A 2006 Price Comparison
* Gallon of Hood Milk
City Market $3.59 Supermarkets: $2.69, $2.99, $3.49
. Milk prices vary widely during the year. On June 5, 2006, the price went down to $3.29 at City Market
for Monument Farm/ Vermont Co-op Milk. Prices are usually lower in the early summer as the cows eat more fresh grass and production rises.
* White Flour 5 lb.
City Market $1.29 Supermarkets: $1.39, $1.59, $1.29
* Poland Springs gal.
City Market $1.39 Supermarkets: $1.29, $1.29, $1.29
* Coke 2L
City Market $1.39 Supermarkets: 4 for $5, $1.49, 2 for $3
* Local Conventional White Eggs
City Market $1.29 Supermarkets: $1.29, $1.59
* Store Brand Butter/lb
City Market $2.19 Supermarkets: 2 for $5, $2.15
* Domino 5lb. White Sugar
City Market $2.69 Supermarkets: $2.29, $2.69, $2.89
* Peanut Butter smooth
City Market $1.79 Supermarkets: $1.49, $1.49, 2 for $3
* Iceberg Lettuce
City Market $2.29 Supermarkets: $.99 cents, $1.48, $1.69
* Bananas/lb
City Market $.59 cents Supermarkets: $.59 cents, $.59 cents
* Prices for food went up 6 percent in 2007 due to higher energy costs.
A Few More City Market Comments:
. Thirty percent of the foods sold at City Market are conventional foods sold through Associated Grocers (AG), under the Surefine Label. AG is a cooperative of grocers. Seventy percent of food is organic or natural. The company has 167 employees.
. City market sells about $10,000 worth of produce every day as well as local milk, eggs, chicken, beef and beans. Liberte yogurt is a huge seller. The company is located in Quebec. It uses Vermont milk and is a huge seller.
. Membership in the co-op costs $200 but can be paid in installments of $25 a year. The co-op gives small discounts to members, as well as a voice in decision-making. The figures may be higher today.
. There were 3,000 members of City Market in the summer of 2006. Anyone can shop at the co-op without the discount.
Positive Signs at Onion River
. Supermarkets are not social service agencies. They're there for the bottom line. This is where food co-ops have an advantage, as pointed out below in a list of positive steps taken by City Market. The market has made a number of changes in order to make the store more inclusive for the entire community including the elderly, school children and the local food pantry.
. Dorothy Brooks of Burlington wasn't so sure about City Market when it opened a few years ago. She was concerned that the prices would be too high. Today, Dorothy and her neighbors take advantage of the weekly specials, receive a discount, and enjoy the catered meal that City Market brings to the public housing highrise where she lives once a month.
. City Market is involved in the Burlington City schools with taste testing and recipe development through the Burlington Food Council. The schools also have an account with City Market to buy healthy food for the children.
. Some of the homeless population use the bottle returning machines for cash. Members of the developmentally disabled community, whose main center is next door to City Market, come in for lunch, coffee, etc. on a regular basis.
. Overall sales for 2006 were $19.7 million. In 2006, food stamp sales totaled $324,000 or 1.6 percent of total sales, up 9 percent over the previous fiscal year. This means that more low-income folks are shopping at City Market.
. The local food shelf is now ordering food from City Market using wholesale rates through City Market's distributor. This arrangement saved the emergency pantry about $2,000 in the first quarter of 2006.
. City Market has an arrangement through Joint Urban Ministries whereby low income people can get their memberships subsidized; this is gaining in popularity.
. City Market recently started a monthly cooking class with a group called "neighbor keepers." The organization is dedicated to embracing welfare families and giving them the support they need to get out of poverty. One of the concerns when the class began was whether the participants would be nervous about taking a class at City Market, but all the women had shopped at City Market and were excited about the class.
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Side Notes:
Other food co-ops in Vermont also offer health and cooking classes in their communities, host free or low-cost community meals, raise money for local non-profits, and work with the schools to improve school lunch programs.
City Market has made a concerted effort to reach out to the community through the programs mentioned above. I still raise the question, will the community's perception of City Market change from a food co-op, to an upscale, organic market, to a full-service community store? This remains to be seen.
The other challenge is to offer more conventional foods to people who cannot afford the high cost of organic foods. No food co-op in Vermont has tried this. I'm not talking about processed junk foods, but more vegetables and fruits, cans of tomatoes, tuna, pasta, rice and so on.
I hope one day the sign over the door will read again as it once did years ago when it was the Onion River Co-op, "Food For People/ Not For Profit."
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