These are the minutes of the Brattleboro Food Co-op Annual Meeting which took place at the Retreat Farm North Barn, Brattleboro, VT on September 21, 2024.
Board members present: Jerelyn Wilson, Michele Meulendyk, Anneka Kindler, Judy Fink, Johanna Zalneraitis, Denise Glover, Calvin Dame, and Evan Silber.
Approximately 95 shareholders and representatives from Commitment to Community partners were in attendance.
Board Vice President Michele Meulendyk welcomed shareholders to the Annual Meeting. She noted that we are highlighting our partnerships with over 30 “Commitment to Community” organizations this year, and reminded attendees that they can volunteer with these organizations to get a discount at the register. She thanked departing Board members Jerelyn Wilson and Judy Fink, and introduced Board candidates Johanna Zalneraitis and Kevin Brennan. She called attention to a proposed bylaw change that determines how Board members are compensated and urged all present to vote. She thanked staff members involved in planning the Annual Meeting, thanked the Retreat Farm for their stewardship of this land, acknowledging that the Retreat Farm is situated on the ancestral homeland and unceded territory of the Abenaki peoples.
Board President Jerelyn Wilson shared highlights of the Board’s activities during FY24, beginning with the search for a new General Manager, which culminated in the selection of Anthony Santorelli in January. She shared observations and experiences from her nine years on the Board. She cited the amazing work of over 160 employees to keep the store open 83 hours a week. She described the structures, such as the union contract and written policies and procedures for both staff and the Board, that give the Co-op stability, ensure accountability, and allow for the Co-op to evolve as the individuals change over time. She described the Co-op’s contribution to our local community via the Commitment to Community program, our education and outreach activities, the work of our Safety and Outreach team interacting with our neighbors, our shoppers’ Round Up donations, and the fact that we keep our dollars local. Finally, she highlighted the benefits of the cooperative business model itself. She invited shareholders to step forward in helping the Co-op, both through shopping, and via Board service.
Anneka Kindler, Board Treasurer reviewed highlights from FY24. Our sales were just shy of $26.3 million, an increase of over 5% from last year. However, this was short of what we had projected. We were able to keep our cost of goods (what we pay for the product we sell) steady – it was up just 1.4% from FY23. Our new catering business generated $450K in sales, far ahead of our projections. We experienced higher-than-expected health insurance claims as well as overdue repairs and maintenance expenses, which all told led to an estimated net profit of $8,000. We returned over $400,000 to our shoppers in the form of discounts, plus we donated over $30,000 in sponsorships and food support to the community.
Anthony Santorelli began by providing the context for the Co-op’s performance in FY24, sharing that food prices have increased nearly 25% from March of 2020 through June of 2024 against a 20-year historical average of 2% annually. Our building’s aging infrastructure added to our financial challenges over the past year. He noted that our 10-year average reported revenue – excluding COVID-era federal support – is ($63,000). He reminded attendees that bottom-line profitability is not our only priority, and provided examples of how the Co-op achieves progress meeting our Ends Policies.
End #1 calls for us to be an open, inclusive, and welcoming marketplace, and the feedback we receive from shoppers is very positive. Anthony described how our website, social media, in-store demos, cooking classes, and Food for Thought articles help us bring End #2 (“provide access and education about goods and nutritious foods that are ecologically sound and responsibly sourced”) to life. End #3 asks the BFC to be an enterprise that contributes to a just and resilient local economy. We achieve this through our competitive wages and robust benefits, the taxes we pay to Brattleboro, and our support of hundreds of local vendors. We also contributed over $400,000 to our community last year, which represents 5% of our net revenue, via our discount programs. End #4 focuses our attention on being an enterprise that engages in sustainable and regenerative practices, which we’re addressing via the addition of a Sustainability Coordinator to our staff and a focus on “reduce, re-use, and recycle”.
Anthony added that in FY24, our shareholders volunteered a combined 2,000 hours at our over 30 Commitment to Community partner organizations. He added that the work of our Safety and Outreach team creating connections with our less fortunate neighbors and working with social service agencies has been profiled in both local and national publications. In short, we are more than just a grocery store!
Representatives from four of the Commitment to Community (C2C) partners present (Restorative Community Practice of VT, Brattleboro Area Hospice, Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, and ECDC) described the work of their respective organizations.
After all present enjoyed a Co-op-made lunch, shareholders visited C2C tables to learn about volunteering opportunities.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm.