Newsletters: September - October 2007

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This Year's CCMA Conference

Natural Times-September/October 2007

By Joshua Youngblood, Board Director

In June, I had the great opportunity to accompany Larrane Hartridge to the 51st annual Consumer Cooperative Merchants Association (CCMA) Conference, held in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The conference provides opportunities for co-op leaders and supporters to learn new strategies, network with other co-op management and vendors, and help strengthen national ties between co-ops-an invaluable opportunity, considering how competitive the food and supplement business is and how unstable the economy can appear.

La Crosse is a small, scenic and exceedingly friendly city on the eastern shore of the Mississippi River in the southwestern part of the state-home to the highest per capita number of bars in America and the World's Largest Six-Pack, woo-hoo! Wisconsin has a number of thriving co-ops-and not just grocery stores-but co-ops for farmers, cheese-makers, and other businesses like energy providers and financial institutions. One of the hosts for the conference, the People's Food Co-op (different from the one in Portland, OR though named the same), is located in a rehabilitated building in historic downtown La Crosse and boasts a gourmet restaurant on the second floor, Hackberry's Bistro.

The theme for the 2007 CCMA conference, "The Red Queen's Race," was meant to evoke the chaotic and frenzied state of operation and competition so many co-ops are facing today. Indeed, co-ops are facing daunting and rapidly changing circumstances. The seminars highlighted the changing circumstances by focusing on topics like (1) the entrance of multi-national mega-corporations like Wal-Mart into the organic food sector, (2) the slim financial margins and organizational obstacles co-ops deal with all the time, and (3) the ongoing competition from Whole Foods and other national specialty and high-end organic food store chains.

To contradict these challenges and strengthen our resolve, a number of co-op-friendly resources were on display from various groups including the Nation Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), and the Cooperative Grocers' Information Network. Each of these groups help co-ops band together and utilize one another's resources.

At the conference, I met board members, managers, and staff from co-ops around the country. From among the many surprising and enriching lessons, I learned just how similar New Leaf Market is to other co-ops. Though we may come from different areas or have different owner make-ups, we share striking similarities in experience and challenges.

We heard success stories from financially robust multi-store co-ops like PCC Natural Foods Market in Seattle which has had a significant impact on its community, to smaller co-ops that have successfully fended off larger competitors or rebounded fiscally after expansion projects. Places such as Minneapolis and Portland, OR (next year's host city) have several thriving co-ops working in concert to meet increasing demand. And the number of co-ops around the county is growing, thanks in part to efforts by the NCGA and NCBA which provide training and financial resources to start-ups, whether they are getting started in large cities like Austin, Texas, or on the fringe, in remote towns like Walla Walla, Washington.

On a scheduled tour, Larrane and I visited another area co-op grocery in Viroqua, Wisconsin, about a half-hour away. Viroqua Cooperative built their own beautiful, largely eco-friendly building-at a cheap price that would make anyone from Florida wince-near the center of this small, rural town. They now count more than a third of the town's population as members.

Although I didn't make it out to one of the Organic Valley farms, I did attend the seminar given by founder and CEO George Sieman, on building regional, sustainable communities. Organic Valley is a nationally recognized and rapidly expanding dairy and meat provider headquartered in Wisconsin, whose array of products are available at New Leaf Market. The Organic Valley cooperative is very environmentally and community conscience and has helped hundreds of dairy farms around the country become both sustainable and profitable while remaining family-owned. Organic Valley also uses alternative fuels in their trucks and warehouses and is actively pressuring other companies to think ahead and act responsibly.

Other topics covered at the conference ranged from detailed managerial concerns, such as how to provide superior customer service and effectively use a store website, to broader issues, such as how to spread the cooperative message to the entire national market and encourage communities to sustain their local co-ops for the long-haul. Particularly interesting for me was learning how co-ops around the nation are incorporating inventive environmental practices into their store design and policies: Montana co-ops are utilizing heat-capturing energy recycling; New Mexico is using co-op-owned, farm-to-market warehouses and bio-diesel trucks; and in Michigan, urban organic farms are being used to help troubled youth.

Despite airline fiascos on the return trip (Larrane and I have lots to say about that-just ask!), the education and inspiration we came home with was well worth the trip. Although the cooperative movement hasn't yet taken over the world, it was good to meet people who share our values and commitment to providing healthy, high-quality, and socially-conscience products and building sustainable communities.