bloomingnews
Your source for co-op and community news. November/December 2015
THANKSGIVING
AT
BLOOMINGFOODS
Everything you need for a memorable holiday
Also In This Issue:
Annual Meeting Update • Election Results • Winter Classes
OUR STORES
3220 E. 3rd Street
812-336-5400
Open Daily 8am-10pm
316 W. 6th Street
812-333-7312
Open Daily 8am-10pm
614 E. 2nd Street
812-822-0235
Open Daily 8am-10pm
IN THIS ISSUE
Save with CO+OP Basics................................3
Thanksgiving Planner......................................4
Thanksgiving News............................................5
A Food CO-OP Turnaround.............................6
Annual Meeting Update................................. 8
Owner Benefits.......................................................9
Community Classes........................................10
Elm Heights Coffee Bar.................................12
200 Daniels Way
812-822-0143
Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm
Closed Sat., Sun.
Visit us online!
www.bloomingfoods.coop
HOLIDAY STORE HOURS
Thanksgiving - Thursday, November 26th
8am-4pm – East, Elm Heights, Near West Side
Christmas Eve - Thursday, December 24th
8am-4pm – East, Elm Heights, Near West Side
Christmas Day - Friday, December 25th
Closed at all locations
New Years Eve - Thursday, December 31st
8am-6pm – East, Elm Heights, Near West Side
LOTS OF WAYS TO SAVE AT
BLOOMINGFOODS WITH
CO+OP BASICS AND MORE!
Looking to stretch your grocery budget? So are we! That’s
why we’re pleased to introduce our new Co+op Basics
program. Co+op Basics offers everyday low prices on
many popular grocery and household items. From milk
and cereal to grocery and fresh items, you’ll find new low
prices on some old favorites.
Don’t worry, we aren’t paying our farmers or employees
any less. We’re simply committed to improving our
selection so that everyone can find more value when
shopping the co-op.
As of October, you’ll find many more Co+op Basics items
in the store. Just look for this sign:
New Years Day - Friday, January 1st 2016
8am-6pm – East, Elm Heights, Near West Side
www.bloomingfoods.coop
WHO WE ARE
Bloomington Cooperative Services (BCS) is a memberowned, mutual benefit corporation whose purpose is to
expand and sustain the cooperative business model. We
promote community involvement, consumer education,
and the benefits of member-ownership.
Bloomingfoods Market and Deli is a member-owned
grocery providing Southern Indiana with healthful, high
quality, and environmentally sound products at a fair price.
We promote locally grown, nutritious and organically
produced foods. We emphasize consumer education,
community involvement, and excellent customer service.
WHAT IS A CO-OP?
A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons
united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social,
and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned
and democratically-controlled enterprise.
Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, selfresponsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity.
In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members
believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social
responsibility, and caring for others.
REACHING US
low prices every day!
Newsletter Editor
BE SURE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE OTHER
GREAT WAYS TO SAVE WHEN SHOPPING THE CO-OP:
General Questions
Co+op Deals – our biweekly flyer focused on packaged
grocery; look for the signs and the tear off coupons with
many products each month.
Jean Kautt - jeankautt@bloomingfoods.coop
info@bloomingfoods.coop
Our Board of Directors
Caroline Beebe, term ends 2018
Dave Debikey. term ends 2018
Lauren McCalister, term ends 2017
Janice Lilly, term ends 2017
Jeremiah Junken, term ends 2017
Dedaimia Whitney, term ends 2016
Kristina Wiltsee, term ends 2016
Fresh Deals – our weekly flyer focused on fresh produce,
meat/seafood and deli.
Owner Deals – ownership has its perks with special
products each month. The next Owner Appreciation Day
is Thursday, December 10th with 10% off store wide.
Bulk – save when buying just what you need; buy a
pinch or a pound as you need. The beauty of the bulk
department is that you are not paying for packaging or
product advertising.
Owners Welcome!
Dates and times for monthly board
meetings can be found on our website,
bloomingfoods.coop
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
bloomingfoods.coop
3
THANKSGIVING NEWS
BLOOMINGFOODS TURKEY OPTIONS THIS YEAR:
New this year! Ferndale Market Farms of Cannon Falls,
Minnesota – Frozen Free-Range Turkeys $1.99/lb. –
This third generation 75 year-old farm delivers all over
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and the Chicago
area. Farm founder Dale Peterson’s grandson, John says
“We let all our Ferndale turkeys grow naturally, without
the use of antibiotics or artificial growth promotants, and
they enjoy constant access to a diet of grains, vitamins,
and minerals from a local feed mill. We grow our turkeys
free-range during the warmer months and move our birds
to fresh pasture weekly all summer so they have access
to clean air and fresh grass. We don’t think there’s any
substitute for excellent care and husbandry and we take
pride in creating an environment that maintains turkey
health without medications.”
B
loomingfoods is once again offering a wide
selection of Thanksgiving turkey options to meet
everyone’s holiday needs. And in the spirit of
positive change, we’re changing things up a bit
this year. Bloomingfoods will be selling all Thanksgiving
turkeys to our customers directly off the shelf, while
supplies last. No need to pre-order, no need to pay and
pick-up on separate visits.
But wait, Bloomingfoods has always offered pre-orders
on Turkeys, why not this year? Pre-orders worked great in
our early co-op years when we only ordered a few birds
at a time, and we could easily manage the system. But
with three stores and orders of several hundred birds each
year, it’s time for us to streamline our system, and make it
simpler for everyone.
With more than ten years of Thanksgiving turkey
purchasing data under our belts, we’re confident that
we’ll have you covered for your Thanksgiving needs.
Bloomingfoods will announce when the turkeys arrive.
All you need to do is shop at one of our three retail stores
and purchase your turkey directly off the shelf. It’s that
simple. We’ll have turkey and all of your favorite side
dishes, and many vegetarian and vegan options!
Fresh Free-Range Turkeys and Roasts from fourth
generation farmers, Bowman & Landes of New
Carlisle, Ohio $2.99/lb. turkeys; $5.99/lb. roasts - Our
Best-Selling Birds. These free-range turkeys are raised
on home grown, fresh ground grains with no antibiotics
and no animal by-products. This unique feeding program
gives Bowman & Landes turkeys a natural tenderness,
which results in shorter cooking times and excellent
flavor. Bowman & Landes turkeys are naturally selfbasting and moist without additives.
Fresh Free-Range Turkeys from family owned
Gunthorp Farms of LaGrange, Indiana $3.99/lb.
– Sold by the half turkey, in a pan and ready to roast.
These turkeys are raised on pasture with no antibiotics.
Gunthorp Farms serves Chicago, Indianapolis, &
Detroit. Greg Gunthorp is an advocate for small
farms, small processors, rural development, sustainable
operations, antibiotic free animals, and much more. He
has participated in numerous panels, talk shows, podcasts,
documentaries and print articles.
Fresh Organic Turkeys from Bell & Evans of
Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania $4.99/lb. – These turkeys
are bred to grow slower and produce an extremely broad
breast (up to 20% more breast meat) with a moist, tender
and flavorful taste. They are fed a vegetarian diet with
no antibiotics, animal by-products, growth hormones,
preservatives, artificial flavors or fillers.
bloomingfoods.coop
5
The final step is to get ourselves back up and running as
a fully functioning business. As a retail operation that’s
open daily from 8am-10pm, we never have the luxury of
being off our feet, but we’ve been dragging them in terms
of productivity and building sales volume. Now we are
increasingly turning our attention to excellent customer
service and rebuilding our sales.
THE
ANATOMY OF
A FOOD CO-OP
TURNAROUND
BRAD ALSTROM, INTERIM GENERAL MANAGER
T
he process of turning around a business is
somewhat analogous to that of fixing an acute
wound. Here’s the overview: step (1) apply
tourniquet; step (2) heal the wound; and step (3)
get back up and running. Right now, we’re somewhere
between steps (2) and (3).
What does it mean to apply a tourniquet to a business?
It means stop the bleeding, which in our case is cash.
How do we stop cash from hemorrhaging? We look at
the expense categories and see where we can minimize
expenses rapidly. Most businesses’ largest variable
expense is personnel costs, never an easy cut to make. It
can be downright painful, but is the first place to go to
quickly slow down bleeding. With department closings
and other staff taking the voluntary severance package,
our staff is now about 25% lighter.
After labor costs, we looked for other obvious savings.
Occupancy costs aren’t typically a variable cost, but in
our case we were able to further conserve cash quickly
by eliminating three non-essential leases (an office space,
a warehouse, and a former store). As a retail operation,
another big cost saving measure was to reduce inventory
and excess equipment. And that we did - again, by nearly
25%.
Then we look for any other potential cost savings: extend
terms on payables; collect on receivables; etc., until we
fully stemmed the cash outflow. This is precisely the
formula we followed, and Bloomingfoods tourniquet has
to date been successfully applied.
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bloomingfoods.coop
We are much more nimble than we used to be. But
we’ve had to turn our attention back to basics, relearning
preferred grocery practices across our organization that
will allow us to grow into being excellent retailers.
Our turnaround is not yet fully implemented, but we
are getting healthier every day. I know we need to be
in top-notch health in order to be ready for additional
competitive challenges coming our way. Our goal is
maximum readiness, to better defend against future
challenges, so we won’t have to apply the tourniquet the
next time.
Healing the wound, however, takes much more patience
and diligence. Keep it clean. Keep it dressed. Ensure
adequate blood flow, and feed the body the nourishment
it needs to heal. For our food co-op, this means ensuring
appropriate structure, a healthy culture, and efficient,
professional systems. The structure was the quick fix.
Our reorganization, along with the layoffs, provided for
a simpler and leaner accountability structure, the roles of
which were further clarified with the new labor agreement
in July. There’s still adjusting, learning, and refining, but
the structure is largely in place.
Next, we’ve begun to rebuild a workplace culture, a culture
based on strong accountability, both internally, and to our
member-owners and shoppers, and at the same time, on
the ethical cooperative values of honesty, openness, social
responsibility and caring for others. This is no easy task
in an organization of close to 200 employees. It will be
a long term, ongoing effort that will be challenging and
challenged, and will only succeed if we can develop a
shared vision around an appropriate workplace culture
that ensures we’re all stewarding this co-op forward
together.
We’re also in a process of building systems, many of which
are already in place, but which we’re still learning to use.
Communication systems, accounting systems, purchasing
systems, pricing systems, customer service systems,
HR systems, IT systems, you name it, if there’s a good
system involved, it’s going to help heal the business more
effectively. Good systems make everyone’s work easier.
All together, appropriate structure, healthy culture, and
efficient systems will allow us to get back in the game.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
I want Bloomingfoods to be a strong cooperative retailer,
unfazed by external pressures, unbiased by the internal
ones, and have strong stakeholder support all around us.
When our co-op is healthy, our community is healthier
too; with an estimated $0.42 on your shopping dollar recirculated directly back in the local economy, we know
Bloomingfoods is the best place you can spend your
valuable dollar. Thanks for loyally shopping this co-op
and for helping to keep us all healthy, happy, and strong!
My call to action for all Bloomingfoods
owners: use your words and use them wisely
our democratic participation and infuse truth into the
rumor mill. Trouble is, this form of participation requires
not only passion from you, it requires time, energy and
attention – the highest priced commodities of our present
day lives. For BCS to be a successful messenger, our truth
needs to be effortless to obtain, and even easier to spread.
In reality, many of us have rightly been privy to
information that most ‘grocery shoppers’ would never
see, e.g. forecasts, market shares, margins etc. But this
is because we are not regular grocery shoppers, we are
member/owners, and this is our business. As a member/
owner, I not only want to see my co-op survive this
competition, I want to see it thrive. But how can I do
that? Given all this information, what can I do except
shop more and vote (two very important actions)? The
answer is, you can do so much, or rather, you can say so
much.
Here are five unadulterated facts that you
can spread like wildfire:
•
•
•
•
KRISTINA WILTSEE, BCS BOARD SECRETARY
In our message-saturated world, there are so many words,
opinions, and statements of “fact” dripping from every
surface, tablet, phone and mouth, that it can be hard to
distinguish fact from fiction. And with the increase in
communication outlets in the last decade, social media
has become the supercharged engine for ‘word of mouth’,
giving a speed and accessibility to messages that is
unprecedented.
The trouble is, Bloomingfoods (BCS) hasn’t mastered this
‘word of mouth’ engine. In the last year, I have feared that
the only messages loud enough to be heard have been
negative ones. Bloomingfoods has responded, but some
feel it was too little, too late.
So what is the board doing to change this pattern? Well,
we write articles and we host open houses and member/
owner forums as a start. These actions are done with a
most sincere intent to educate member/owners, increase
•
Bloomingfoods is not closing its doors, and is at no
risk of closing its door anytime soon.
Bloomingfoods received a standing ovation during
its sponsorship announcement at Lotus this year.
(When does that ever happen?)
The GM Search Committee has received and is
currently accepting applications for our new GM.
Spread the word.
Bloomingfoods is deciding to cease its role as a
vendor at the Saturday Farmer’s Market. Historically,
BCS was the first prepared foods vendor at market,
but as anyone attending market has noticed, there are
now a lot of prepared food vendors. So we are using
our resources instead to sponsor special events, amp
up our Near West Side Saturday morning offerings
and help host the Tuesday market June through
September.
A union contract was negotiated and recently
implemented. Bloomingfoods is officially a union
house. Congratulations are due to all who created the
contract using interest-based bargaining.
With knowledge comes responsibility - a charge to use
your words to help your Co-op get back up, brush itself
off, and stand tall when facing the competition, declaring
in one voice: we were here first and we can do whatever
we, as a cooperatively owned business, want.
Continue increasing your participation: read the facts,
question the opinions, and spread the word.
bloomingfoods.coop
7
ANNUAL
MEETING
UPDATE
Approximately 100 people attended Bloomingfoods 2015
Annual Meeting Sunday, October 18 at the Bloomington
Convention Center. The meeting included a Report from
Board President Caroline Beebe, Manager’s Update
from NCG Development Advisor Paula Gilbertson, and
Financial Report by Board Treasurer Lauren McCalister,
Interim General Manager Brad Alstrom, and Finance
Manager Paul Read, and meeting facilitation by Michelle
Mattoon of Coltrain Group.
Michelle solicited feedback and questions from
attendees, the topics of which included current financial
performance, accessibility to limited-income shoppers,
and internal staff communications. We introduced two
future programs: the Positive Change round-up program,
and a new Bloomingfoods Ambassadors program, both
of which will begin next year and will be announced
in our next edition of Bloomingnews. Brad Alstrom
closed with remarks about what’s to love about co-ops
and the importance of staying true to the internationally
recognized co-operative values.
The Annual Meeting also marked the culmination of
our Annual Co-op Election. With over 500 votes cast,
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bloomingfoods.coop
owners affirmed the slate of nominees for the Board of
Directors. Candidates receiving the most votes (and their
term of office) are as follows: Caroline Beebe (2018),
David Debikey (2018), Janice Lilly (2017), and Jeremiah
Junken (2017).
Owners approved a change to the bylaws allowing two
additional seats on the Board of Directors (from 7 seats
to 9 seats) starting with our annual election cycle next
year.
Co-op owners also chose ten organizations to be
recipients in our 2016 Positive Change round-up program,
including: Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, Hoosier Hills
Food Bank, Monroe County Community Kitchen,
Middle Way House Roof Garden, Sycamore Land Trust,
Bloomington Meals on Wheels, Interfaith Winter Shelter,
Local Growers Guild, Shalom Community Center, and
Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington. Next August we
will begin taking nominations for 2017 Positive Change
organizations. Thank you to everyone who attended
the meeting and cast their vote and demonstrated our
cooperative’s democratic principles.
BLOOMINGFOODS OWNER BENEFITS
•
New owner coupons at the time of signup.
•
•
Quarterly owner appreciation days (10% off all
day, as many transactions as you want). This is a
great time to plan ahead and shop to stock up.
Owner Appreciation Day - December 10th
•
•
•
10% off one shopping trip one time every two
months. This means one discount for each
member number, one transaction, every two
months.
Owner Deals program, which offers great
products at a discounted price for owners.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
•
10% case discount on preordered products for
owners. We will continue to offer deals on
regularly stocked items which will include an
automatic promotional price for all customers.
This will ring the same setup as Blue Sky 6pack
sodas, for example (Gerolsteiner water, six
bottles of wine, etc).
Patronage rebate to owners during a profitable
year, as determined by Board of Directors.
A vote in annual BCS board elections.
bloomingfoods.coop
9
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER
COMMUNITY CLASSES
FERMENTATION FRIDAY
SEED SAVING AND PROPAGATION
Taught by the Center for Sustainable Living Team,
this introductory class will cover the ins and outs of
seed saving, the propagation of plants by cuttings and
rooting, and more. Participants gain the necessary
knowledge to cut their seed costs, share their favorite
plants with friends, and start to breed new varieties
suited to our area.
Domestic Diva, Barbara Lehr hosts drop-in
demonstrations (no registration required) on
how to make your own delicious, probiotic,
fermented foods such as homemade yogurt,
kim chi, sauerkraut, sourdough and refreshing
beverages such as kefir “soda” and kombucha.
Barbara will offer several quick demonstrations
throughout the two-hour slot, including recipes,
samples and starters for that week’s featured
ferment. Special health topics, such as Bone
Broth for Soups and Health will be offered
from time to time.
Fridays (ongoing) 12 – 2pm
Nov. 6 Kombucha
Nov. 13 Yogurt
Nov. 20 Water Kefir Soda
Thursday, November 5, 6-8pm
Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University
2367 E. 10th St.
$14 in-city / $16 non-city
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard
1100 W. Allen Street
For more information, contact
kayte@mhcfoodpantry.org
Register by November 3 at www.bloomington.in.gov/
parks or call 349-3700.
GARDENING BASICS
KIDS COOK: WEEKLY KID-FRIENDLY
DEMOS AND SAMPLES OF AFFORDABLE
DISHES MADE FROM SCRATCH
This drop-in session features hands-on cooking
projects for kids of all ages, simple ideas and tips
for healthy food choices, plus tasty samples. We
explore kitchen science together, and take trips to
the vegetable patch for garden-to-table cooking and
memorable lessons on where our food comes from.
Kids can work in the kitchen while caregivers shop, or
the whole family can join in!
Ongoing - drop in any Tuesday or Thursday, 4:15 – 5pm
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard 1100 W. Allen Street
For more information, contact kayte@mhcfoodpantry.org
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bloomingfoods.coop
Get ready to plant your first garden in the spring!
This two-hour workshop with Marie Fleming
is designed to give you what you need to know
for a fruitful growing season. The class addresses
such topics as soil preparation, bed design, plant
selection, integrated pest management, organic
fertilizers, saving seed, starting seed, and more.
Tuesday, November 10, 6:30- 8:30pm
Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University
2367 E. 10th St.
$15 in-city / $17 non-city
Register by November 9 at www.bloomington.
in.gov/parks or call 349-3700.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
HEALTHY COOKING FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Make this holiday season the best ever by
learning about healthy ways to treat yourself, and
those you love. Join us to as we prepare festive,
delicious, affordable foods that nourish body
and soul. We’ll talk about food and mood, and
how to make holiday time less stressful and more
enjoyable, whatever traditions you celebrate.
There will be plenty of hands-on participation,
recipes and, of course, TASTING!
Thursday, November 12, 6:30 – 8:30pm
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, 1100 W. Allen
Street
Free to MHC patrons and volunteers; $5
suggested donation for those who do not meet
MHC’s shopping guidelines.
Please
register
by
e-mailing
kayte@
mhcfoodpantry.org or calling 812 355-6843
THE FALL PLANTING OF FRUIT TREES
Fall is an excellent time to plant pome fruit
trees, such as apples and pears. Studies have
shown that fall-planted apple and pear trees
have an advantage over similar trees planted in
the spring. The class with H. Michael Simmons,
orchard educator, covers cultivar selection,
site selection and preparation, pollination
requirements, planting technique, early care, and
first dormant season pruning. The class includes
a demonstration planting.
Saturday, November 14, 2-4pm
Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University
2367 E. 10th St.
FREE
To register, e-mail
Education@BloomingtonCommunityOrchard.org
at least 48 hours before the class.
COOKING 101
If you want to learn more about cooking, but don’t
know where to start, this is the workshop for you! We’ll
cover the basics: knife skills and cooking methods
(sautéing, steaming, poaching, roasting, etc.), how to
read a recipe, ingredients to keep on hand and meal
planning. You’ll walk away with new skills and ideas,
and the confidence to get started at home. What a
great way to begin the new year!
Tuesday, December 15, 1 – 3pm
Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, 1100 W. Allen Street
FREE to MHC patrons and volunteers;
$5 suggested donation for those who do not meet
MHC’s shopping guidelines.
For more information, contact kayte@mhcfoodpantry.org
Include your name, phone number, and e-mail.
bloomingfoods.coop
11
ELM HEIGHTS
COFFEE BAR
GETS
GROUNDED
COME TO THE
BLOOMINGTON
WINTER
FARMERS’
MARKET
OVER 30 VENDORS
We have moved the Elm Heights espresso bar
downstairs into our deli area to serve you better, and we
can’t wait to wake you up and warm you up with hot
tea, hot chocolate, and all kinds of coffee!
Now when you order your favorite deli sandwich, you
can step right over to the espresso counter for your
favorite tea or coffee to accompany.
Alongside our Bloomingfoods house coffee, tea,
and hot chocolate from Equal Exchange, we will be
brewing your favorite espresso drinks, using locally
roasted Hopscotch coffee.
The ethical values of Hopscotch owners Jane Kupersmith
and Jeff Grant resonate with Bloomingfoods shoppers,
and sales of Hopscotch coffee have been brisk in our
stores.
EVERY SATURDAY
9AM - 12:30PM
12/5 THROUGH 3/26
Come see us in the deli corner – we’ll help you find a
new favorite or create your classic standby.
(CLOSED DECEMBER 26TH)
Harmony School Gymnasium
909 E. 2nd Street
Bloomington, IN
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bloomingfoods.coop
TODD BAKER BRINGS
CHRISTMAS TREES
HOLIDAY GREENERY
AND
TO BLOOMINGFOODS EAST!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS
OPEN DAILY 10AM - 8PM
BLUE SPRUCE, SCOTCH PINE, BALSAM FIR AND FRASER FIR CUT TREES. ALSO WHITE PINE,
NORWAY SPRUCE AND WHITE SPRUCE LIVING TREES. FRASER FIR WREATHS.
Staffed at all times to help with your selections and preparing your tree to take home.