Co-op Coordinator’s Report Nija Dalal

In the current economic climate, few businesses can honestly say they’re doing well. But Alfalfa House is proving that in rough times, co-operatives make good economic sense for individuals and for communities. Over the last year, Alfalfa has continued to make some powerful strides toward sustainability and longevity.

We underwent an Energy Audit through the Department of Energy and Climate Change and have created an Energy Savings Action Plan, which will help us reduce our consumption and the environment. To grow the movement against plastic bags, Alfalfa House has also been taking part in the Watershed’s BagBusters BagShare, allowing our members to borrow reusable bags to take their shopping home. It’s
just another way we can minimise our waste and we encourage members to take advantage of this clever use of those ubiquitous green bags!

Even the garden has been a site of increased sustainability; thanks to a permablitz Produce Coordinator Renata Field (temporarily residing in Germany) and many volunteers. Now, instead of growing groundcover in the garden, we are now harnessing the power of nature to grow broccoli, fresh delicious herbs, chillies, eggplant and more.

In terms of longevity, thanks to the MC and a lot of hard work by our Groceries Coordinator and Produce Coordinators this year, we’ve developed some excellent working budgets that will help us stay in the black and on track to a growing strong and healthy co-op.

Another huge effort that will help Alfalfa House in years to come are the proposed Rules Changes. Along with modernising our rules to a simpler structure, the proposed changes would also eliminate membership shares. In the new scheme, membership would be based on a one-time non-refundable fee of $20 that would give you a lifetime membership, so long as you shop at Alfalfa House once every year. This change will allow Alfalfa House to minimise the administrative costs connected to maintaining our membership register. It would also remove the membership shares liability from our balance sheet, freeing Alfalfa of a liability that is currently around $52,000. The other benefit is that our bookkeeper and auditor would no longer need to do monthly membership share reconciliation, which can often take hours. Furthermore, the new rules will allow Alfalfa House to legally have a range of 4-7 directors. Our current rules require us to consistently have seven on the board, which hasn’t always been feasible for us. We’d love to have seven members on our Management Committee, but it’s not always possible. This rule modification would make things a lot easier for Alfalfa House.

This has been a year of good change and massive progress for Alfalfa House; we’ve worked hard to turn our finances around and make the co-op a better place. This year’s AGM has the power to ensure Alfalfa remains sustainable and strong for the years to come.

Finance Report for the year ending June 30, 2009

The financial year ends on a positive note for Alfalfa, with a healthy surplus reflected in the balance sheet and profit and loss statements. Last year at this time, we were facing a deficit on our books, and the amazing turnaround in just one year has been primarily due to the Management Committee’s implementation of budgets and the staff’s diligence in adhering to them. The spending budgets we’ve put in place have allowed us to create a larger operating budget that will allow Alfalfa’s financial stability to continue and grow. We’ve worked hard to build more transparency into our financial systems, and the working budgets are a big part of that. This year, we also worked closely with our auditor to make sure our books and our stocktake were kept correctly, ensuring no small amount of security in our finances. We’ve taken other steps toward financial stability as well, including a reorganisation of our banking. This has allowed us to set funds aside in an interest-bearing account (so our surplus funds can earn a little extra for us!), and it’s made our daily banking more efficient. A big, long fundraising campaign involving donations from both members and suppliers has allowed us to purchase the fabulous new gravity bins, which coincides with the upturn in sales and memberships towards the later part of the year.

We have been overhauling existing systems and introducing new ones to improve our efficiency and transparency. The filing and archive systems were subject to a big reorganisation and fair amount of shredding took place. The result is that there is now a manageable and easy-to-navigate system. As we move into the next year we look to build on our current position and maintain a financially secure future for Alfalfa House.

Management Committee

This past year has been a rewarding and productive, yet also a very challenging time for the Management Committee (MC).

Around the time of the last AGM it became clear that Alfalfa had a very serious cash flow problem, which left ignored, would lead to some severe financial difficulties for our co-op. MC spent a lot of time working with staff to implement some strict spend restrictions at the end of 2008 and well into 2009. If you noticed that the co-op was short on some items during this time, we thank you for your patience while (through trial and error) we set up sustainable, ongoing spend limits. These will allow for the co-op to be well-stocked while also keeping us in a healthy financial position. The hard work of MC and staff, and the patience of Alfalfa members was rewarded when we ended the year with a reasonable surplus. It was decided that this surplus would be channeled into improved wages and conditions for co-op staff, improved staff amenities and improved facilities and aesthetics within the shop.

You may have noticed the gradual introduction of gravity bins throughout the shop. MC and staff felt that gravity bins would help make shopping in the co-op a more pleasurable experience. In order to help fund this venture we ran a number of fundraising drives throughout the year as well as welcoming the very generous donations from many of our suppliers. It’s anticipated that by the end of this calendar year we will have completed the gravity bin installation throughout the shop.

The MC has worked with a number of volunteers in developing plans for further shop improvements such as improved community noticeboards, improved internal signage as well as improvements to the shop exterior. We have worked with some young local artists to come up with an agreed design for a mural on the western wall of the building. We welcome your feedback on how else we can improve the experience of shopping at Alfalfa House.

We’ve continued the Food Grants scheme this year, giving $100 grants each month to community–based groups and organisations that have ethics and principles aligned with Alfalfa House.

We have taken very seriously our objective of providing support to other co-ops. This past year we have provided support to two burgeoning food co-ops – the Flame Tree Co-op in Thirroul and Rhubarb Foods in the eastern suburbs. We also continue to support the inner-Sydney university food co-ops as required.

Assuming our sales levels are maintained, the budget for the 2009-10 financial year should see the co-op making a very healthy surplus. While the current MC has some ideas on how this surplus could be used, it will be important for members to be involved in discussing a longer-term vision for the co-op. It’s our firm belief that any profit made should be used in ways which benefit the co-op membership. We would like to start this discussion at this year’s AGM.

As we move into the latter half of 2009, our focus will be on ensuring we continue to meet the needs our membership and planning for 2009-10. We will also be looking at staff contracts and ensuring we comply with
the new IR framework to come into effect January 1, 2010.

At the 2008 AGM four members were elected to MC: Genevieve Derwent, Linda Grkinic, Jo Rose and Teddy Cook. Sam Byrne joined us during the year, while Teddy Cook Cook resigned. We thank Teddy for his fantastic contribution as MC member and Treasurer.

During the year we welcomed the following members to staff positions: Janne, Jamie, Alanna, Andrew and Helena.

While this time last year, the MC were concerned about how the economic downturn and rising fuel prices would adversely affect sales activity, our fears have not been realised and it would appear that Alfalfa House has an exciting future. A future that will be even more positive if we see an increase in member participation. We'd encourage you to get involved in your co-op in whatever ways you can as this will help to ensure our co-op thrives and continues to respond to the needs and views of our members.

Stock Coordinator (Fruit+Vegetables) Renata Field

General
This has been a fantastic year with lots of positive changes at Alfalfa House. I have immensely enjoyed working at Alfalfa, and for that thank the wonderful members, volunteers and staff. Throughout the year, I have updated the fruit and veg manual regularly to keep track of changes to the position and add to the work of my predecessor. This was done more intensely in May/June in time for Jamie to take over the position for four months while I was on leave. A section was added about Christmas and public holidays due to lessons learnt after some problems with delivery over that period in December 2008. Hopefully they'll be easier to plan with this wisdom now stored in the manual.

In March, I completed Food Safety Training Two, in addition to the Food Safety One training that all staff undertook. I added a section to the manual relevant to Alfalfa. I hope to engage in further implementation of the training in 2009-10.

In October 2008 we saw evidence of rodent damage and so we purchased plastic, rat-proof, containers for the root vegetables stored overnight out of the fridge. The boxes were lined with hessian to hide the plastic and allow for easier washing. In April, I changed the fruit and vegetable labels to include origin by state. This involves a little extra work, however, it provides members with more information from which to make their purchases. I also added information about biodynamic produce. Monika and I have considered a complete revamp of labeling throughout the shop to become more cohesive and informative. I hope this might happen in 2009-10.

Community
In September 2008 I and Alfalfa House supported Sydney's first Urban Orchard – an opportunity for members to swap produce from their gardens with one another. The first went really well with six attendees, all swapping stories and produce. The project continued until March, with fewer attendees until it became unviable. I believe it is still a good idea, but needs better publicity and venue. Depending on interest, I would like to restart the project later in the year at Marrickville Markets. Also around September, we began supporting Jura Books Food Cooperative in Petersham. Following our policy of supporting other cooperatives, they are able to order from us at cost plus 10% until their cooperative is able to sustain itself, which is of course very positive.

In November 2008 Alfalfa House hosted a Permablitz. About 20 people attended, many donating plants as well as their time, working to make our small garden greener and more edible. Thanks to the members who participated in the design, converting and maintenance of the garden. It's a pleasure for all! In May I spoke at Canterbury Community Centre about food cooperatives, using the example of Alfalfa House. I received much positive feedback from the attendees and organisers, and was happy to support and inspire people attempting to set up food cooperatives in their local area. Throughout the year I was also in contact with people from other Australian food cooperatives, offering advice as required.

Suppliers
Although we still receive most of our fresh stock from organic wholesalers Back to Eden and Eco Farms, we are moving to support more and more local NSW growers. With each delivery, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we have stock from both wholesalers and independent farmers. Farmers we remain in contact with are Colin Amos from Comboyne and the North Coast Organic Cooperative (NCOG) in Rolland Plains. In early 2009 we began supplying stock from Champions' Organics in Mangrove Mountain on a weekly basis. With his deliveries we also receive citrus from Wallis Organics in Bathurst, and on occasion from other nearby organic farms. In May we began to supply heritage apples each fortnight from Sallydale Organics in Blayney; I'd met them at Marrickville Markets. I also met Beau from The Farm Gate in the Bathurst region there, although supply was sporadic. However, we hope to receive more from him in the future. When the supply of garlic from NCOG ran out, we received garlic from Organic Marketing Cooperative on the mid north coast of NSW, delivered with our biodynamic eggs from Feather and Bone.

I organised the field trip to visit our farmers from the Comboyne and Rollands Plains regions on the 29th and 30th of November 2008. 5 people from staff attended and we had a fantastic time. We learnt lots, toured 4 farms from which we receive produce, harvested garlic and perhaps most importantly, reaffirmed the relationships we have with these farmers. I hope to organise another tour in 2009/10. In 2008/9 we also changed our purchasing system to include budgeting. This required a considerable amount of time to set up systems, and ongoing time to maintain, however it remains useful to plan spending and make that process more transparent to everyone involved in the cooperative.

Organic Waste Matter
Stock loss was consistently down on 2007/8 figures, on average by half, and in some months even more. Despite there now being less compost waste, it is still an issue for Alfalfa to manage our waste responsably. Approximately half our bio-waste is processed on site by six very active worm farms, the rest is delivered to community gardens in the area for composting. In late 2008, the Wilkin\'s Green school was no longer able to receive our compost. After a summer of members taking care of shop compost, the Addison Rd community garden began taking our compost again. Many many thanks to Nick and Fiona for managing this process!

Stock Coordinator (Groceries) Monika Baumann

It’s hard to believe I started the Groceries Stock Coordinator role only a little over a year ago, because we’ve implemented so many projects and changes. I’m grateful to have learned and experienced so much. My first few months were a challenging period for Alfalfa, but thanks to staff, MC and volunteers, we’ve put systems in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again. I love the feedback I get from you, our members, whether it’s information on possible new products, suggestions and help for improving things, or just that the co-op is looking really great, so please keep it up!

Twelve months ago I wanted to ensure co-op was always well-stocked. It’s not always easy with out-of-stock suppliers and drought-affected crops. Some early financial hiccups didn’t help. Thanks to hard, necessary decisions by MC and work by staff, our finances are much better now. I wanted to streamline our ordering, stock receiving and storage systems. I’m pleased to report there are new systems helping to achieve these goals.

New improved systems
Budgets and better financial systems were introduced, ensuring the co-op’s financial stability. Newly developed and implemented ordering systems enable us to track spending. Historical records of orders enable us to track seasonal trends and refer to previous orders. All of this increased the Groceries Stock Coordinator role; therefore, a new role, Groceries Support Coordinator, was created. I’ve enjoyed working with Andrew; he’s looking after waste management systems, receiving a couple of deliveries each week and working on updating the signage in the shop.

We completed a thorough audit of the products and prices in the database late last year. We’ve reorganised the storeroom and office. We are working hard to update and improve labelling. Renata and I have begun implementing a food safety plan for the co-op; most staff completed food safety training in the last year. I’ve also been working with volunteers to ensure food safety standards. Alfalfa is getting increasingly busier, and doing everything it does wouldn’t be possible without the help of our wonderful volunteers, so a huge thank you to all of you. You are an essential part of keeping your co-op alive.

Earlier this year, we introduced a new prepay system enabling members to pre-order bread and dairy milk. We’ve found our members like bulk ordering! The amount of bulk orders placed is increasing each month.

I’ve developed systems to ensure the website is updated. I’ve also contributed several articles to the eNews with the stories behind our food and the ways to use it, upholding our objective of providing information about and promoting the use of ethically produced and packaged wholefoods, organic, vegan, vegetarian, GMO free and cruelty-free foods.

Gravity bins
Switching the bulk barrels over to gravity bins has been a huge project, involving fundraising drives, redesigning the layout of the shop, late night installation missions, developing new refilling techniques, and more. I didn’t anticipate I’d improve my carpentry or fundraising skills in this job, but co-ops provide a vast range of opportunities and support for developing new and existing skills. It’s been an entirely fundraised project; by the AGM we will have raised more than $11,000 in under ten months, received an in-kind donation of 30 bins from a member and installed over 120 bins.

This is what food co-ops are about – a community cooperating to achieve almost anything we put our minds to. The end result – a co-op that looks more inviting, is more user-friendly and hygienic with better stock rotation systems, and better display for a greater range of products, reflecting our members’ needs. The leftover barrels were sold to the new Flame Tree Co-op and Thoughtful Foods at a lower price than new ones. Therefore, we also upheld our objectives of supporting new co-ops and of minimising waste and reuse.

Supporting other co-ops
I’ve been supporting other co-ops, particularly Sydney Uni, Thoughtful Foods (UNSW) and UTS with information about suppliers and ordering. Renata, Jamie and I have also supported other co-ops with minimum order difficulties. Macquarie Uni, Flame Tree in Thirroul and Rhurbarb Foods are nascent co-ops we’ve supported as well. With Friends of the Earth, we ran a workshop for new food co-ops in June. I’m very interested in giving back to the broader movement, sharing skills and learning from each other.

Exciting news
Loving Earth originally only supplied their ethical, organic, fair trade raw chocolate in prepacked form. They supplied it bulk and unwrapped exclusively to Alfalfa House at our request, as a trial. It was so successful, they added it their general bulk catalogue available to other co-ops and organic shops. We’ve effectively played a role in reshaping the food system beyond the walls of Alfalfa House.

While the last year has not been without its challenges, things like this that the remind me why we are here. Food co-ops are such an important part of creating change toward the environmentally and socially just world I want to live in. The Alfalfa House community is so amazing – a big thank you to all the staff, volunteers and MC for all your hard work, passion, support and dedication, and our members for making the co-op everything it is.