Civil Eats reported on Friday, Community Food Co-ops Are Thriving During the Pandemic. It's a good reader, especially if you think coops are the creation of "food elitists" and dirty hippies.
One illustration of this trend? A capital campaign by Detroit Lakes' Manna Food Co-op. Now located in an old Tasty-Freeze on the north side of town, after two and a half years of operation, the enterprise is moving to a much more visible location downtown on Washington Avenue in Norby Flats.
The Detroit Lakes Tribune reports in Manna Food Co-op starts capital campaign for move to Norby Flats:
Manna Food Co-op has launched a capital campaign to raise funds for its move to Norby Flats downtown.
"Starting a capital campaign during a pandemic is certainly not ideal," Ryan Pesch said in a news release. Pesch is chairman of the capital campaign committee and the co-op treasurer. "But we couldn't hold off any longer if we're going to move this summer."
The campaign includes three ways to show support for the business and its upcoming move, according to the Manna capital campaign website:
- Invest by buying preferred shares.
- Make a tax-deductible donation.
- Become a co-op member.
The funds will be used to fit the Norby Flats space with a new floor and plumbing, and to buy fresh inventory and new equipment to better showcase the food, according to the release. If funds are raised, construction may start as soon as June, according to the release.
On the co-op's web page about the campaign, we learn "Not only will the store be more visible, the new location "will help us meet our mission of supporting local farm operators, healthy foods, and wellness in the community."
An example of a local farm operator? Co-op co-treasurer and University of Minnesota working as an Extension educator in community development Ryan Pesch, whose farm was profiled last summer in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal article, Lida Farm Recognized as an Agriculture Water Quality Certified Farm.
Pesch--a friend from a time when we worked with CURE to save a sustainable food production program at a local community college--sent us a statement from co-op about its plans (we've broken up some of the paragraphs to make the document easier to read):
Despite a pandemic, MANNA Food Co-op is pressing forward with its capital campaign to afford its expansion and relocation into downtown Detroit Lakes.
Organized as a cooperative, the primary way MANNA will finance its move is through preferred share investments from its 700+ members. A preferred share is an equity investment directly in a company and comes with a dividend and is redeemable, that is, the co-op plans to buy back shares at their face value when more established.
Minnesota’s youngest retail food co-op has outgrown its 1,600 square foot space in an old Tasty-Freeze on the north side of town after two and a half years of operation. Focused on featuring local foods from local producers, the co-op has seen enough growth in sales and interest that their board voted to move forward with an expansion to a bigger and more visible location downtown.
“The new space will allow us to expand our deli with seating and better support our local farmers and artisans. Due to recent interest in sourcing from local producers during the pandemic, it’s become almost necessary for us to move if only for the storage space to meet demand.” said Ryan Pesch, a local organic vegetable farmers who is board treasurer and chair of the capital campaign committee.
With challenges in our national supply chains, not only are households turning to local producers for food, but minds are turning local to for business development opportunities.
Pesch writes, “Based on conversations with members, the pandemic has people thinking about how to support their local community and economy. Maybe it’s the rural ‘we need to pull together’ attitude during this time or just a lot of Wall Street volatility that has been thinking differently about where to place their money at this time.”[emphasis added]
Pesch has seen good interest from members willing to invest since launching their capital campaign. Each share cost $500 and some members are investing up to $10,000. Cooperative law is Minnesota reserves preferred share investments only for Minnesota residents who are co-op members, although anyone can join. [emphasis added]
Pesch views the investments in preferred shares as mini-stimulus program for this rural community. A transition to a new location will take dollars not only to fit up the space, but also more inventory from local operators to fill it.
Five contractors with few jobs right now will be put to work on a new floor, plumbing and electrical work. A larger space will also allow the co-op to add freezer space to feature frozen meats such as local grass-fed beef or pastured chicken from local producers. The store only carries local meats and they are much in demand, but are now crammed into a single freezer.
Right now the campaign is sitting at $60,000 in pledges, but the goal is to reach $400,000. With only a week’s start, it’s difficult to say whether the local investment interest will come to fruition as many of the co-op’s members are also facing unemployment and the same unease about the economy as anybody in country.
Pesch adds, “Shoppers and staff are excited about the move, but the co-op will need the community and our 700 members to step up to make this a reality.”
The co-op hopes to start work on its new space as soon as June, but the construction timeline is contingent on how quickly the capital campaign moves along.
We hope Minnesota readers with the resources consider investing in the co-operative. Learning some positive lessons from the pandemic means putting those lessons to work.
Photo: Present and future for Detroit Lakes' Manna Food Co-op.
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