Saturday at CCMA

Day 2 at CCMA was packed with networking, incredible breakout sessions and an awards luncheon honored the best in the cooperative system.

General Session: Charting the Next Era of Cooperative Growth

"Why shouldn't we win?"

Tandy Harvey, new CEO of National Co-op Grocers gave a power-packed 90-minute session on her vision for the future of NCG. Harvey started as a billing clerk in a warehouse and worked her way through over 30-years in the grocery industry to run the Central Region for UNFI.

Harvey introduced her co-op tour from her first 6-months on the job.  Harvey loves dessert and has cataloguing some of the best she's tried.  “What kind of dessert? Any kind!”

Harvey talked about coming from a publicly traded company (UNFI) to co-ops, and that she can feel how co-ops are different.  Everyone is willing to share.  Everyone wants everyone to be successful.  That’s unusual in the corporate world.  

Went over three core trends in grocery: 1. The Value Revolution 2. The Omnichannel Expectations 3. The Health and Values Shift.  (90% of shoppers want to buy products that are good for people, planet and animals). Her refrain throughout the presentation about co-ops was “why shouldn’t we win?”

Co-op differences are an advantage.  Natural and organic foods are continuing to grow sales.  “You are what people are wanting right now.  You will continue to be what consumers look for,” explained Harvey.

Co-ops have an 89% customer retention rate with consistent values-based experiences. Harvey examined how co-ops compare to competitors like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.  She asked whether people do all of their grocery shopping at your co-op?

Harvey discussed consumer friction points when shopping.  How can you remove friction in the customer experience?  Have grab and go items instead of having people wait.  Be ready for your high sales periods.  Don't accept long lines at the register.  Customers biggest complaint is often availability of products.  

“Carry what consumers want,” said Harvey.  That may not be what you want.  But carry what customers are looking to buy. 

Harvey brought a refreshing and new perspective on the cooperative grocery business and left the cooperators in the room with a sense of where our businesses sit in the broader grocery landscape.

CCMA Awards Luncheon

The awards luncheon featured an incredible group of deserving cooperators and co-ops being honored for their contributions to the system and their communities. The speeches introducing the awardees were emotional and heartfelt as the presenters told the crowd what made these recipients so deserving of recognition.

The Food Co-op Initiative (FCI) began by introducing the 10 startup co-ops who have opened in the 12 months since the last CCMA. They then presented two startup co-op awards. The full list of winners was:

Bill Gessner Startup Food Co-op Award:
Charles River Food Co-op in Massachusetts

Startup of the Year:
South Philly Food Co-op & Suncoast Market

Cooperative Board Service Award:
Kimberly Lomonaco- Chair of the Board at Three Rivers Co-op in Knoxville, TN

Cooperative Innovation & Achievement Award:
Bruce Mayer from Wegner CPAs

Cooperative Impact Award:
LaDonna Sanders Redmond 

Cooperative Service:
Melinda Schab, General Manager of the Moscow Food Co-op in Idaho 
Bruce Phlegar, General Manager of the Roanoke Co-op in Virginia

Cooperative Excellence:
John Crane, General Manager of the Portland Food Co-op in Maine

Breakout Sessions

Gabby Davis's session Who Holds the Holder was standing room only. Jeremy and Tyler arrived a few minutes late and had to sit on the floor at the back of the room. Gabby Davis is our only colleague in the cooperative system asking these questions and interrogating the realities of a GM’s day to day existence. Responding to the GM sustainability survey was an emotional experience, and hearing the results in a packed room of cooperators was almost too much to endure with a dry eye.

Like any good person and conference goer, LeAnna showed up early to Tim Bartlett and Seth Brown’s session on using walkthroughs to level up expectations at your Co-op.  While she primarily imagined that she’d spend more time on the beach and less time reading work related literature on a Tim style sabbatical (and does that make me a bad person?), the rest of the session was spent furiously scribbling notes about accountability and consistency. 

Overtime, we start to become blind to the things in our Co-ops that our customers surely do still see. While it may feel more effective to dive and and start fixing problems when we see them, the reality is that it is far more effective in the long-term to bring the team along on the process of seeing through the customers eyes and prioritizing based on that; A practice that only works with commitment and consistency.  As Tim says “the problem is usually systems, not people.” 

The CCMA Dialogue Studio continued on Day 2. Mike participated in a session led by Jon Steinman that asked participants to consider what they had heard and experienced during the conference and what they would be taking back home with them. The dialogue format invites unfinished thoughts and uncomfortable pauses in conversation, and left participants with deep experiences hearing from one another.

Other Garlic and Roses Day 2 Notes

🌹LeAnna attended her very first swag swap.  Her primary goal was to see if other people thought her merch was as cute as she thought it was (it was!), but secondarily was to see what else was out there.  The crowd was intense in volume, but ultimately cooperative, however the anxiety of a tightly packed space made LeAnna grab a cute little Fredericksburg notebook (that Suzie probably would have just gifted her anyway) and run out of the room for fresh air. Intense, but an experience everyone must have.  10/10.

🌹Jeremy invoked the virtues of 'schedule send' on emails when trying to avoid sending messages outside of business hours

🌹The Garlic and Roses crew were only called 'troublemakers' once on Saturday

(Editorial update, it happened two more times since I posted this)

CCMA 2027 Will Be Held In......

drumroll........

ITHACA, NY!!!

GreenStar Food Co-op will host CCMA 2027. See everyone there!