Just a few minutes for Mission Questions
jjbeals
Please take a few minutes to respond to the questions posted to
generate thoughts on a Newberg-Dundee Food Coop. I've listed the
questions below if you want to to just respond to this post. And no
need to respond to all, just the ones that spark your thoughts. Lisa
and I would like to have a rough draft of a Mission Statement by our
meeting, a week from tomorrow, so your input now will help that
happen!
Also any name ideas?
I keep thinking this and need to get it out of my head--Friendly Foods
(friendly to the community, the earth, bodies, souls, etc., but
associates with Fox, Yearly Mtg,..),
Here's my running list
o Friendly Foods, a Food Co-op for Newberg and Dundee
o Chehalem Valley Food Co-op
o Yamhill County Food Co-op
o Local Food, the Food Co-op of Newberg and Dundee
o Your Food in Newberg and Dundee
o The Local Grocer
Mission Questions:
1. What are the potential members’ common needs?
2. What products and services will the co-op provide?
3. How will the co-op distinguish itself in the market? How will it be
different from competitor stores?
4. What values will the Co-op promote?
5. How will the co-op conduct business?
6. Who is the co-op for?
Thanks!
Bren
only if you know. Kind of an inside joke, but could also be played off
to pay homage to early area settlers/farmers. And if you don't know
the inside story, it's a name that doesn't really have any potential
bad connotations. It's easy/fun to say, and it's...friendly. :-)
Re: mission questions, it seems like #1 and #2 should be answered with
market research. I guess #2 can be answered in broad strokes by saying
the Coop exists to provide affordable access to, and information
about, locally grown food, organic food, and fair trade food. With
respect to the part about "information about," I'm thinking of all the
scales of local food, from window boxes, to full-on farms. How to
raise/grow your own food, or get access to those who will do it for
you.
Re: distinguishing differences ought to be a care for affordability
and access to good food; explicit outreach across the strata of our
community; and it seems important to note that what the Coop *doesn't*
have on it's shelves is as important as what it does have.
Re: values...living wages, simple living, food education, community
support, ethical business
Re: conducting business...according to a pre-defined standard of
ethics; transparently to membership.
Re: for whom...all people of Newberg and Dundee who live
intentionally; who understand the importance of local; who desire to
live seasonally; who want to better understand their community and
local world.
That's pretty abstract stuff, sorry. I guess we can unpack at the
meeting...
jjbeals
abstract versus really specific and detailed. My current thinking is
that for exploring mission that abstract is appropriate. but when we
talk about a feasibility study, the more specific and detailed the
better. that has helped me to have a "place" to put my thoughts which
range from big amorphous ideas about promoting holistic creation
health to nitty gritty things like how much do we need to sell each
month to make the coop survive?
I have started to plug some ideas into a Feasiblity Study, which
needs to be done, but I think I've convinced myself that it can’t be
done without actual market research, hard data from an actual survey
of grocery shoppers in Newberg and Dundee. I am having a hard time
accepting this mainly b/c it sounds like money and secondarily how to
survey beyond our primary market—people like us (“the choir”). We
could easily do a survey but survey the portion of the population that
would be members of/shop at a coop—wow 100% favorable response. Hmm
not really helpful. There are firms that do this professionally (cash
register sound here) that would be able to do a wide survey. So how to
reach beyond our reach? Via the library, the Graphic, online, stalking
people after then exit Nap’s, door to door, making phone calls. I have
set up a meeting with Deb Sepich, a marketing/management professor at
Fox for the Monday after Spring Break to talk about starting a coop in
general but specifically this feasibility study. She mentioned
“interns” which got me excited. I think anyone who would like could
join us.
More to talk about on Tuesday!