By Patricia Cumbie - From the March-April 2006: Volume 6, No. 2 issue.
If anything can truly revolutionize the direction of the food co-op movement, it is the process through which constant change is managed. In the last decade, food cooperators have created programs and associations to help them do this. The most exciting result of this work is that these food co-ops, whether urban or rural, singular or clustered together, have created a virtual chain that connects and inspires them to be a stronger force in their own communities.
The Common Cooperative Financial Statements (CoCoFiSt) program was developed to give food co-op operators the same benefits as chain operators, giving them the same tools as their competitors in order to compare performance and improve. It’s one of the best industry tools the food co-op sector has to understand what it means to be a good operator. Over the years, a variety of tools have been implemented from CoCoFiSt to create new standards and set benchmarks, as well as give users something to compare themselves to in relationship to co-ops with similar sizes or operational profiles. Thus it has helped many cooperators compete more effectively through reliable financial data, realistically ambitious goals, and sound shared business practices.
People are not only using CoCoFiSt to improve their operations, but how they work together as a team inside their co-ops and with others in their region. Walden Swanson, CoCoFiSt’s developer, said he thinks the food co-ops’ willingness to share, along with proven networking abilities are the sector’s advantage. “We have a strategic opportunity to use this data to build our cooperative network.”
He said the key to getting the most from CoCoFiSt is taking what he called the “dry facts” and using the information as leverage to build the food co-op network in conjunction with other people using the program.
CDS consultant Mel Braverman also said those who use CoCoFiSt and CoCoGap to see their potential and achieve excellence, do so by using the information to reach out, looking outside their organization to other successful operations, and institutionalizing best practices throughout their co-op operations. “CoCoFiSt is data-driven, but its most useful feature is when people use what they learn to interact with others and work out solutions,” he said. In this way it helps groups see what’s possible. “CoCoFiSt is a really great way to help build your team, because unlike a lot of other team-building activities you might do, CoCoFiSt is focused on what you do, which is running a grocery store.”
George Huntington, general manager of multi-store- and restaurant co-op Bloomingfoods Market and Deli in Bloomington, Ind. said, “At a recent staff-wide training session we drove it [CoCoFiSt] down even more levels, bringing the information to the clerks and restaurant staff. It was a very positive experience.” He added, “It’s fun to look at the data, but the beauty of the tool is working on the CoCoGap plan, and doing the critical thinking. How can we get better at margin? How can we be more efficient? When it’s a group process, developing plans and creating solutions, the message doesn’t come down on high from management. The staff is very motivated to participate in this way.”
Enhancing the Competitive Edge
It’s also true in the entrepreneurial realm that sometimes the outside “help” we get in seeing potential is the pressure from competitors. Using CoCoFiSt, and training staff to do more with the data, cooperators can more readily identify promising opportunities in need of fine tuning, and stay ahead of the competition while simultaneously strengthening their co-op’s advantage.
For example, the CoCoGap tool helps managers do this by giving a specific dollar amount to improvements, creating a natural focal point on making change for the better. “If you learn a certain improvement will bring in another $25,000, that makes it real. It has a very stimulating impact on people,” said Braverman.
Looking at these improvements as a national aggregate could have a profound impact on the course of the food co-op movement as a whole too. The Central Corridor co-ops of the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) see this and are currently setting aggressive goals as a group to collectively close the performance gap in their co-ops. Ben Nauman, NCGA’s central corridor development director, estimates that achieving their long term goals could be worth up to $6 million dollars. “That level of improvement for the sector would be huge. Even if we close in on 30 percent of that we’re talking several million dollars.”
Knowing the dollar value of improvements and what’s at stake, has led the Central Corridor co-ops to create business plans focused on closing the gap, driving CoCoFiSt deeper into their respective organizations, as well as piloting the CoCoCube which will allow people to get data as soon as it becomes available, getting more timely info.
“The data is the first step, but where it gains value is when people pick up the phone, talk about what they’re doing, or make store visits. I’ve seen this especially in the Great Lakes region where managers are sharing operational practices…people are setting their sights on integrating CoCoFiSt into their organizational cultures,” Nauman said. Nauman also stressed “there’s nothing mystical about CoCoFiSt” and using it is part of a larger co-op development process at a micro and macro level.
No Margin, No Mission
Carol Collins, general manager of People’s Food Co-op in Ann Arbor, Mich., said that her co-op’s commitment to using CoCoFiSt tools to help make decisions has not only helped her be a better manager, but that commitment to it is all about being a responsible operator on behalf of the co-op. “Every year we increase efficiency and productivity and that means that we can give more to our members and staff.”
Collins also recognizes its power as a networking tool, requiring her management team members to contact other people managing high performing departments in other co-ops to learn more about how to be better at what they do. “We can connect with people with common problems and come away with ways to deal with them. The NCGA has helped in our corridor structure, creating ways for department heads to expand their networks beyond the general managers.” She added, “We could all be doing better reinforcing the co-op as a learning institution, providing education and personnel development in the service of our members.”
Huntington from Bloomingfoods said using CoCoFiSt this way for continual improvement is in keeping with cooperation’s founding principles. “These tools help foster and build teamwork outside our co-op so we get better at practicing the sixth principle, cooperation among co-ops.” That’s a cooperative advantage!