Tara Morelos has been a co-op food member for a large portion of her life. She has never seen her model be more in danger.
Morelos is the chairperson for Alfalfa House, a food co-op that was founded in 1988. The company shut its doors in the year 2000 due to the decline in members and increasing operating costs.
“I feel saddened by that loss of community,” Morelos admits with a sigh.
“I feel tired of banging on about it, but I’ve invested my life into this … I am eternally committed to the principle of it.”
A fixture in the inner-western part of Sydney, Alfalfa House sold fresh, organic produce at a reasonable price and dry products. The shop’s front was the final day of trading in April.
In the past, the cooperative has been looking for a new site with the hope of “reinvent” itself after membership dropped from over 1,200 prior to Covid to fewer than 450 in the current year.
This dramatic drop was nearly fatal to the food cooperative since the model relies on members to function. “It ended up knocking the stuffing out of us,” Morelos says.
“[Members] literally walked away, some due to the restrictions implemented during the lockdowns. And in our case, we rely quite heavily on memberships and annual subscription fees to keep going.”
“The co-op itself continues as an entity, but we’ve been struggling to keep our members engaged.”
Alfalfa used to offer three membership levels – one that was passionate at $50 per year as well as a regular membership at $30 per year, and a concessions tier that cost $20 per year.
Members could avail of discounts of 10% in the event that the storefront was open. They also had the right to decide the way that the cooperative is run by voting.
A decrease in volunteers accompanied the decline in membership. This made the day-to-day tasks of running the cooperative challenging.
“There was this perception that it was a little, expensive club. And that affected us, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis,” Morelos declares. However, this perception was far from correct. The organization implemented a “massive revise” of their costings, which led to costs that were comparable to the major supermarkets.
Alfalfa House’s problems aren’t exclusive to the Alfalfa House. Food cooperatives across the nation are experiencing decreasing members, reduced spending, and increasing rental costs, all in the context of a crisis in cost-of-living.
These concerns resulted in Sandra Clark helping set up The Grocer Co-Op, a union kind of food cooperative, where organizations can come together to exchange information and collaborate to protect the model of co-ops.
Clark says that the majority of co-ops under her umbrella organization have been “struggling at the moment.”
“We are trying to prevent closure,” she declares. A lot of co-ops have similar organizational and operational structure that makes knowledge sharing useful. “So they do not fall into the same traps as other organizations do.”
Clark says that the majority of co-ops under her umbrella group have been “struggling at the moment.”
“We are trying to prevent closure,” she declares. A lot of co-ops have similar organizational and operational frameworks, and this makes knowledge sharing useful. “So they do not fall into the same traps as other organizations do.”
Clark says that increases in rent across the country have had negative consequences for food cooperatives. Even though they are not-for-profit organizations, they are often required to seek commercial leases. “Most food co-ops … may not be able to pay competitive commercial rent. It has caused some to close down, while others are looking to move to cheaper rental locations.”
Amidst the increased profits made by the big supermarkets Coles and Woolworths, which control more than two-thirds of the market share, Clark insists that it is vital that consumers have an ethical local selection.
“We do not have the purchasing capacity or the ability to contact suppliers and say “We’re not paying you more and are discounting the item’. That is something supermarkets do, and it makes it challenging for us to be competitive with them.
The co-op model is at a crossroads and has to be adapted to the changing needs of Australian customers.
“We will either see the demise of food co-ops, or we will possibly see a change in the way that they are structured to be viable.”
Sam Byrne, secretary of the Co-op Federation, which advocates for the cooperative model across the United States, says Food co-ops have to be “nimble and agile” to be successful.
“As households are being squeezed … it’s natural they’d look for the cheapest options.”
However, offering an alternative to the supermarkets is part of the model of co-ops. “It’s why they exist,” Byrne declares. “To challenge that … producers love supplying food to co-ops because they get a fair price and are paid quickly.”
“But it ultimately comes down to that economic squeeze we have at the moment, it’s a tough time for any business.”
Byrne was an Alfalfa House customer for years, And she says the company’s closure was a traumatic experience.
“I’ve been a member for a long time, Alfalfa was my first food co-op, my children have grown up shopping there.”
“But we are hopeful of a revival, and are looking forward to seeing Alfalfa 2.0.”