Rainbow Grocery Cooperative: Mission, Vision & Culture

Analysis of Rainbow Grocery Cooperative Mission, Vision, and Culture Business 788 Prof. Harris-Boundy May 4, 2010 Mathieu Daveau Spencer Jaffe Joanne Panchana Anna Stojak Natacha Yarbrough Table of Contents Introduction Rainbow Grocery’s Mission: Who are we and What do we Value? Rainbow Grocery’s Vision Rainbow Grocery’s Strategy: How we Achieve our Vision Rainbow Grocery’s Goals and Objectives: How we Gauge our Success Competition and Industry Best Practices Conclusion References I.Introduction There are many integral parts of an organization. The company’s mission, vision and goals often shape how an organization operates. Culture, which is more difficult to measure, is shaped out of these aspects of a company. This paper will analyze how Rainbow Grocery’s mission, vision and goals have shaped its culture. Rainbow Grocery is a grocery cooperative in the Mission District of San Francisco. In our research we evaluated the development of Rainbow’s goals and their communication strategy. Through primary and secondary research, we assessed how its mission and values shape its culture. Additionally, the team compared the mission, vision and goals of Rainbow to similar organization and competitors. Carpenter, Bauer and Erdogan define a mission as articulated by a mission statement which is a statement of purpose describing who the company is and what it does. A mission combines with a vision, which is a set of shared principles, standards and goals to drive an organization’s goals. Goals are outcome statements that define what an organization is trying to accomplish, both programmatically and organizationally. All these aspects form the way employees interact which defines a company’s culture. Carpenter, Bauer and Erdogan’s book describes as a system of shared assumptions, values and beliefs showing people what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. II.Rainbow Grocery’s Mission: Who are we and What we value? “We strive to offer resources, education and a forum for informational exchange for many local communities and organizations. We maintain an ongoing commitment to make Rainbow Grocery Cooperative an inclusive environment that is welcoming to everyone.” (www.rainbowgrocery.org) Rainbow was founded in the summer of 1975 and was originally part of the Peoples Food System, which was a network of small community food stores in San Francisco. It’s a “cooperative,” meaning that it’s owned and operated solely by its workers. A business concept ahead of its time, California didn’t have a corporate statute for worker cooperatives when Rainbow was initially founded but the store has always been managed as a “coop.” They officially incorporated as a cooperative in 1993. In its initial inception, the original founders Rich Israel, John David Williams and Janet and Bill Cronius started as volunteers. The store was an outgrowth of spiritual community which eventually evolved into a secular project. Their initial goal was to provide pure, inexpensive, vegetarian foods to the public. In order to keep the prices low, food had to be had to be ordered in bulk which led to the creation of Rainbow. Rainbow has had 3 locations during its thirty-five year history. They initially opened on 16th and Valencia which was considered “skid row.” This undesirable location spurred its growth because it was in an area where counterculture youth aggregated. That growth enabled the store to start paying its two most active volunteers (Bill and Janet) a minimum wage salary and establish a payroll for other workers after several months of consistent volunteering. For tax purposes, ownership transferred to Janet and Bill and in 1976, they later transferred ownership to a non-profit corporation. In 1983, Rainbow moved to a larger space at 15th and Mission where business increased 68% during the first year. This enabled workers to establish a group health insurance plan and give themselves a raise. In 1996, Rainbow moved to its current location on Folsom street consisting of the main building and two parking lots. Currently, Rainbow employs over 200 workers. Rainbow Grocery employees are rewarded for their hard work with an equal voice in the company operations. Through “membership,” everyone has a chance to effect change by creating committees, formulating policies and proposing new ideas. There are no set corporate guidelines except that workers opinions are valued, respected and appreciated. In order to work at Rainbow, one must become a member, which requires that workers complete a set amount of hours and attend a number of financial, historical, safety and customer service orientations. Workers must also attend meetings of decision-making bodies and pass a test in order to complete their membership requirements. Once this has been completed and they’ve purchased a share for $10, membership is accepted. This means that workers can run for committees, vote at Membership Meetings and share in the financial surplus after taxes are paid. This process takes about a year. The level at which rainbow values its workers is demonstrated in its staff’s structure. For example, legal and financial decisions are made by their seven-member Board of Directors, which is elected annually from the Membership. Board Members can be the same people who stock shelves, clean the floors and work the registers. The Board also creates policies for the store, some of which must be ratified by the entire Membership. Another elected body, the Storewide Steering Committee, coordinates and deals with matters that cannot be handled successfully by a single department. The seven-member body meets weekly to deal with departmental conflicts, questions about floor-policy, and other day-to-day issues. Rainbow is a community oriented company and offers grants and donations to enrich and strengthen local organizations. Grant benefits various areas including community development, social justice, environmental protection and sustainable agriculture, the arts, human and animal rights, education and health awareness. Rainbow is awarding over $77,000 in grants during 2009 and 2010. Organizations receiving funding include, Breast Cancer Action, Central American Resource Center, AIDS Housing Alliance SF, Huckleberry Youth Programs, Brava, Women for the Arts and the Glide Foundation. The Donations and Grants Committees are composed of worker-owners elected by the Membership. Their purpose is to distribute gifts, donations, and grants to selected groups and organizations. Every year the Board of Directors works with the outgoing committees to set the Donations and Grants budget for the coming year. The current Donations and Grants Committees then distribute donations and grants to recipients throughout the year. This committee is made up of two worker-owners who are elected annually by the Membership. The purpose of the Donations Committee is to administer donations to local non-profit organizations, groups and projects in our community. The Donations Committee largely provides food donations to organizations that provide on-going services to the community and one-time donations for events organized to support community groups. The Grants Committee is made up of the members from the Public Relations Committee and Donations Committee. The purpose of the Grants Committee is to award and administer grants to local non-profit organizations, groups and projects. The Grants Committee prioritizes sustaining organizations that benefit our local community and whose goals are consistent with the mission of Rainbow Grocery Cooperative. In addition to focusing on community growth, Rainbow also believe in equitable farming practices. To support this value, the offer a wide range of products that carry the Fair Trade certification. Fair Trade includes a range of goods, such as agricultural products from South America like coffee, chocolate, tea, and bananas to handcrafts such as clothing, household items, and decorative arts. It involves the following principles: Producers receive a fair price - a living wage. For commodities, farmers receive a stable, minimum price. Forced labor and exploitative child labor are not allowed. Buyers and producers trade under direct long-term relationships. Producers have access to financial and technical assistance. Sustainable production techniques are encouraged. Working conditions are healthy and safe. Equal employment opportunities are provided for all. All aspects of trade and production are open to public accountability. Fair Trade products can be identified by the " Fair Trade Certified" label or the Fair Trade Federation logo on the product. The " Fair Trade Certified" system involves non-profit organizations in 17 different countries, all affiliated with Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International. The Fair Trade system benefits over 800,000 farmers organized into cooperatives and unions in 48 countries (www.fairtradefederation.org). III.Rainbow Grocery’s Vision “At Rainbow we take pride in our role as a community resource. We want to be a place where can people can learn, share, eat and play together.” (www.rainbowgrocery.org) Rainbow Grocery has many long term and strategic goals. These goals help guide the daily operations of the store. In addition, many of these long-term plans directly relate to their Vision Statement. Specifically their efforts to: Support other collectives and worker owned business Encourage environmentally friendly means of transportation such as mass transit and bicycling Educate the community and population about nutrition and health Maintain involvement in the community through donation programs and sponsorship initiatives Create and maintain commitment to make Rainbow an inclusive, diverse, non-discriminatory environment that is welcoming to everyone Rainbow Grocery has been in San Francisco Mission District for over 35 years and it continues to offer resources, education and informational exchange for many local communities and organizations. For many loyal shoppers, Rainbow has been a symbol of tradition as well as a landmark of San Francisco and its progressive culture. Rainbow maintains an ongoing commitment to having a positive effect in the local community, both economically and ecologically. Each year it supports local non-profits, schools, activist organizations and artists with grants and food donations. It participates in local fairs, the KQED pledge drive and other groups. It also donates unsellable food to a number of local organizations, such as Food Not Bombs, Project Open Hand and Food Runners. As part of its commitment to provide quality information and choices, Rainbow offers an extensive selection and variety of books relating to nutrition and healthy lifestyles. It offers free educational workshops and store tours for schools and interested community groups. Additionally, Rainbow fosters and encourages other small coops that want to grow by providing an organizational umbrella for them to operate under. One of Rainbow’s key values is its belief that vegetarianism is the healthy and most sustainable way to live. It continues their long tradition and focus on vegetarianism, by offering only non-meat products. Its Packaged Foods Department does not carry any products that contain any preservatives, artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners or hydrogenated oils. When possible, they select products that are whole foods or organic. The store does not carry products that area made from genetically modified foods due to health and environmental concerns. Rainbow also offers a variety of products, such as gluten-free, for those with specific allergies or dietary needs. Rainbow’s vision is also shown by its support for local, independent farmers and commitment to promoting sustainable agriculture and fair trade products. It continues to offer a wide variety of healthy and organic choices by buying products from small suppliers in limited quantities. This is drastically different from the traditional economic model that encourages specialization and bulk purchasing to keep costs low. Rainbow does however, offer many types of products in their bulk section. This helps reduce the cost to the store and the customers. Bulk food sections also reduce the packaging needs and waste associated with most consumer goods. The cooperative, in an effort to minimize its footprint on the planet, recycles and composts as much of its waste as possible. Rainbow also utilizes solar energy to help power their store. In addition, they encourage their customers to use alternative means of transportation such as public transportation and biking. To further encourage this, the store offers a 10% discount to shoppers who are members of San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. IV.Rainbow Grocery’s Strategy: How we Achieve our Vision The most important traits of Rainbow’s vision are to provide high quality, healthy, unique products at affordable prices. It also values the concept of autonomy and personal responsibility. This is demonstrated in its flat decentralized organizational culture. The last major value Rainbow embraces, is the importance every member of the coop. Most receive benefits and all are paid a solid living wage, which is considered above average for most grocery stores. ‘People come first’ is the mantra of the store. For this reason, Rainbow has never laid anybody off in its history. There are additional factors, such as economic stability and success, that have allowed Rainbow to continue this unusual style, but there have been times when the store has been over staffed or struggling financially. Rainbow Grocery will have to continue to focus on financial planning to ensure they can continue to maintain their current staffing levels. The most significant way Rainbow is able to achieve its vision successfully is a strong connection to the local organic and vegetarian community. Rainbow is popular because it shares many values with the community it serves. As previously mentioned, it helps the community by through its Donation and Grant Committee’s contributions to local nonprofit organizations and community causes. These actions have made Rainbow a business that is trusted and valued among many in people in San Francisco. Due to Rainbow’s continued involvement with local organic farmers, some farmers are willing to sell their products exclusively to Rainbow. This means that Rainbow is the only retail outlet that offers these products, the only other location these products are offered are regional Farmer’s Market events. The unique products that Rainbow offers make it a truly unique place in San Francisco. The community has had a great history of embracing businesses that offer unique products and engage with the community. This is why Rainbow is a classic and well-liked San Francisco institution. By filling this niche and solidifying its relationship with local farmers, Rainbow is ensuring long-term success. Rainbow offers many benefits to the community. To help educate the customers about healthy cooking they offer cooking workshops that are free to the public. These workshops occur every month at locations near the grocery store. These workshops are important because Rainbow is able to demonstrate recipes their customers can make from the variety of specialty products it sells. This information is located on their website and on the community posting board near the main entrance. Rainbow Grocery’s website is informative and contains information on bay area events and news as well as healthy foods and living. The site also clearly states the whole history of Rainbow since it inception in 1975. It also mentions important days and events in the local community. The site also keeps customers updated on the very popular coupons for large discounts at Rainbow Grocery. In each new edition of the AT&T Yellow Pages, there are coupons where customers receive 20% of their entire bill if they bring the coupon during a “coupon day”, which occurs two days every other month. As a result of Rainbow’s coupons, the Yellow Pages became a much more valuable commodity for Rainbow’s San Francisco Shoppers. When new editions are released, it is quickly difficult to find Yellow Pages that still contain coupons. The site is also important for those who want to understand what types of the products Rainbow promotes and sells. The website contains a clear definition of its standards for organic foods, which is stricter than the commonly used USDA guidelines. On its site, Rainbow clearly states that none of their products contain Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO). These statements on the food it sells are helpful and informative to consumers. Consumers can also learn about the benefits of the food Rainbow sells in addition to learning reasons to avoid certain types of foods. Despite their involvement with all aspect of food politics, Rainbow attempts to not get overly political on other issues. It does not take sides on the plethora of highly debated political issues affecting the world or local community. It only takes a side on the food. This is a key reason, according to Michael, a Rainbow employee, that Rainbow is the last major worker owned food coop in San Francisco. He believes that other coops focus on political issues contributed to their downfall as a result of disagreements amongst those coop members. That being said, while having a view on what types of foods are healthy, they do not discriminate in their hiring. Michael stated that the employees are a very mixed group of meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans. It is more important that the employees fit in with the culture and share the values Rainbow has, rather than their personal preferences on food. The values of the Rainbow culture are deeply ingrained into its organizational structure. The structure is flat with departments working autonomously. These departments generally are dictated by the different food offerings in the store. For example, there is a bulk food department, a produce department, a cheese department, and a refrigerated item department (known as “the reefers”), etc. Every employee must be a member of at least one department. They do have the option of choosing to be part of more than one department after a certain amount of time has passed. As a result of the flat organizational structure the decision making activities vary from a traditional business. When decisions need to be made that affect the store in a major way, instead of a single department, meetings are set up for all members of the coop who want to participate. According to an employee, these meetings can be difficult to set up because Rainbow has nearly 200 members. Every member gets one vote regardless of position or seniority. Decisions are democratic and a simple majority is required for a proposal to be adopted. For this reason, the decision-making process is slower than it would be in an organization with a more centralized structure. As we will further discuss, Rainbow’s organizational structure is based on the different departments working autonomously. The only way for this to be achieved is for all members of the coop to be honest and respectful of one another. There is no code of conduct because Rainbow hires only ethical people, who through trust are able to make the organization work in an efficient manner. After the lengthy process (approximately one year) of hiring, Rainbow can be assured that the employee fits into its culture. At Rainbow no one tells anyone else what to do. In turn, no one abuses that privilege. Trust and personal responsibility are the building blocks that are used for Rainbow to achieve its vision of a flat organization that works together through autonomous departments. The departments are in charge of all its own decisions as long as the decision does not affect another department. Hiring is done by the individual department. This is a major reason why this structure works, because management isn’t trying to guess who would be a good fit. Instead, the department itself gets to make the decision. There is a file where applicants drop off their resumes, this location acts as a database for the whole store. When a department is looking to hire someone new, it goes to this database to find someone who fits its needs. This is the only aspect of the hiring process that unites the whole store. Once hired, pay is different in each department. Each one also determines how employee raises are handed out, who can work what hours, and what are tasks most urgent. Much conflict is avoided between employees because they are separated into these smaller groups. Departmental conflict is avoided because there are clear boundaries of territories. When there is occasionally conflict, it will be sent to a higher-up committee for resolution. This is done in a quick manner. One could call Rainbow’s vision with regards to organization structure the “United Departments of Rainbow”. It is only effective when there is trust and no secrecy between all members. Rainbow has done a wonderful job achieving its vision on the topics of fair employee treatment, offering quality products at affordable pricing, and creating a strong connection to its community. V.Rainbow Grocery’s Goals and Objectives: How we Gauge our Success Assessing Rainbow's degree of success is crucial but delicate. In the previous sections, we described its strategy in detail. Rainbow does not define itself among a competitive landscape of food retailers. Instead, it is a gateway between stakeholders, within a given ecosystem. Rainbow indeed wants to be a nexus between organic farms and vegetarian community. In that context, its strategy is to build relationships with stakeholders. Assessing the coop’s success is therefore assessing those relationships' quality and sustainability. In that part, we will review Rainbow in terms of the following: Suppliers Customers Employees Local community In each case, we will identify Rainbow' standards and suggest ways and methods to measure performance, considering these standards. Ultimately, we will be able to establish a balanced scorecard. The balanced scorecard will include Suppliers: Ensure current suppliers meet rainbow's requirement regarding: Quality standards Environmental & social best practices Ensure that Rainbow fosters the development of new organic farms in the local area Customers Employees Local community Rainbow's quality standards are part of its mission statement. For that reason, we do not want to insist on these. Whereas average standards steadily decreased from the 70's until now, the coop policy never weakened. With time, some of its strong values found embodiment in third party brand and labels such as Bay Area Green Business Program and CCOF. However, playing ahead of the curve, Rainbow can't rely on third party labels, or even government standards. Moreover, the corresponding certifications are not verified frequently enough for the coop to rely on it. Let's imagine for instance that tainted apples were found by a customer on the store' shelves. The ensuing scandal would impair Rainbow's reputation irreversibly. And arguing any third party certification would hardly help. For that reason, the coop needs to design its own quality measurement system. Many methods exist for retailers to evaluate quality on their own. Statistical inquiries prove very efficient. However, we also want to suggest a new method, fitting in with Rainbow's core values. Employees should test food, as part as of their prerogative. Though far fetched, the benefits of such initiative would be threefold: •“”Free lunch” for employees, economists used to believe that there is no “free lunch”, yet at Rainbow, me made it come true" would be a great motto to inspire employees. •Employees would then post frequently updated critics on shelves, such as small poems (in fact this already occurs). Customer confidence would greatly benefit from this demonstration of quality. •Last but not least, the quality evaluation would be performed frequently, with Rainbow standards. Regarding the company's reputation, unethical practices among rainbow's pool of suppliers would prove as detrimental as a tainted apple found on shelf, if not more. For that reason, Rainbow needs to ensure that its supply not only complies with production quality requirements, but also with best social and environmental practices. Again, the difficulty is not to define standards, there are parts of the cooperative's core value. Being ahead of the curve, the cooperative has to measure performance on its own. And contrary to the quality of production, environmental criteria must be verified in the field. How can Rainbow visit its suppliers frequently without appearing intrusive or harming their relationship? We think that Rainbow should invite suppliers to visit its store on a regular basis, so that they can appreciate how well displayed their products are. Conversely, suppliers should be honored that quarterly, new employees are offered a tour at rainbow's best supplier’s locations. That way, visits from Rainbow employees would not mare relationships but strengthen them. Meanwhile, Rainbow would be able to ensure that environmental & social criteria on the field. Last but not least, best farms should be emphasized at the store with pictures and the development of a ranking system. We just considered how a cooperative could gauge performance and quality among its existing suppliers. However, Rainbow's Mission statement goes beyond maintaining existing relationships. Instead, Rainbow wants to promote organic farming. It makes sense from an environmental point of view and from a business one as well (adding more suppliers means more bargaining power). For that purpose, Rainbow should try to identify an existing benchmark of organic farming activity in the local area. Then, it has to make sure that the diversity of its suppliers is correlated with that benchmark. For instance, if there has been a 20% increase in organic farming, that trend must be similar with Rainbow's catalogue or suppliers. Even if the relation starts with the trading of a single reference, it is crucial for Rainbow to be able to show its commitment to new farms, as a measure of performance. To a certain extent, one may even consider that Rainbow's Mission statement requires it to push traditional farms to switch to organic techniques. However, in that case, standards are yet to be defined. Regarding the farming industry in the Bay Area, we suggest that being able to help one or two farms per year to switch would demonstrate excellent performance. As an introduction, we have to remember that, as a " nexus" , Rainbow's strategy is not to promote itself but rather to emphasize the quality and diversity of its products to the vegetarian community. Assessing standards and gauging success in that field is a hot topic. And financial statements are totally useless when it comes to measuring Rainbow's success in that domain. Why? Let's imagine that Rainbow makes all of its revenue on a specific item, fortunately with a high mark up. Financial statements would shine. Meanwhile, Rainbow would have failed in promoting the diversity of its products to its customers. That case is extreme, but illustrates why we need new tools and measurement scales to gauge Rainbow's success with its customer. This is quite a hot topic. For years, Rainbow has been successful with clients. Otherwise, the cooperative would not have survived let alone thrived as long as it has. However, we believe that management would be incapable of precisely assessing how Rainbow was successful in allowing its clients to discover new products from organic farms. If an item remains on shelf, is it unknown or disliked? Did the sales force fail and subsequently need to try harder, or would it be obnoxious? Perhaps Rainbow did well and should not be blamed. However, there are now tools that can enable them to gauge their performance with customers. A balanced scorecard, independent from financial statements may greatly help employees to quantify how well they promote new products and how customers perceive these. Additionally, social media has a great role to play here. Rainbow's customers, though vegetarian, are not a herd. Instead, they form a complex constellation of individuals. Some interact with each other, other have common interests and even common acquaintances without knowing each other. Social media enables Rainbow to map the entire community and identify opinion leaders. Hence, no effort is wasted during the marketing process. And getting a feedback, which is the next step, is not more complicated. That feedback can be matched with our standards. Indeed, a Twitter app has been developed, which enables a company to gauge the penetration rate of its message about products in a community through keywords. All Rainbow has to do is to differentiate its products names, set standards for name (percentage of the community targeted), and its can be provided with live feedback (provided that customers talk about shopping lists and recipes). Rainbow' strategy shows great employees do well in a team and as individuals. But how can we assess this? Off course, conventional ways exist, they are simple, and apply to every organization. Do people often resign, why? Another telling indicator is, conversely, how many spontaneous applications are received every day? It is quite telling about the reputation of company. Similarly, Rainbow can be provided with an instantaneous feedback about how it is as an employer on a social media network. However, we suggest Rainbow creates a team dedicated to social media. These measurements are crucial when it comes to evaluating immaterial assets such as reputation. It applies to Rainbow as a fresh food grocery store, but as an employer, as well. Last but not least, we want to suggest some specific ways to assess your employee’s happiness. Many studies show a strong correlation between well-being, good mood and creativity, which allow us to make that bold suggestion. The store is divided into departments in which the different food offerings are autonomously managed (bulk food, cheese, produce etc.). Employees should be given space to set up original decorations promoting a department. These could be changed every month, and customers could vote for their favorite. This would enable each department to act and appear to customers as a small village. Decoration would be made from cheap item, paper, craft, color and colors, as it often the case in the Mission, which is the original location of Rainbow. Benefits would include: •According to academic research, the more whimsical the decoration is, the happier the employees are in that department. •Making the decoration would actively contribute to meeting the standards of happiness, through team building. However, for the experience to be successful, employees, who are highly autonomous and largely self-managed, have to choose to play that game. Otherwise, the initiative is likely to ruin existing harmonious relationships between employees. Rainbow does not only address the vegetarian community, but also neighbors, and the community by organizing free events, like cooking workshops. Obviously, the grocery is part of San Francisco's community landscape. Because of its long established presence and strong adherence to its core values, Rainbow was able to build an identity, and is now part of the city's culture. However, to what extent is Rainbow responsible for making a happier neighborhood? And, supposing that we are able to define standards, how much did the last cooking workshop contribute to achieving them? Again, a wise monitoring of social media discussions may be a precious indicator. Considering neighborhood and local press can also help. To that view, we consider that having 3 articles per year attesting of Rainbow's involvement in local life, shall be regarded as a successful involvement in the local life. VI.Competition and Industry Best Practices In the analysis of Rainbow Grocery, it is important to benchmark this organization to similar grocery operations. Rainbow, by design, is very unique. However, there are many coop, community owned grocery stores in the Bay Area and across the country. How do Rainbow’s mission, vision and goals compare to competitors and similar businesses? In what ways is Rainbow leading the industry, and in what ways can Rainbow improve itself with other’s best practices? Within the city of San Francisco there is a market ripe with coops striving for sustainable and local produce. Many of these establishments grew from the environmental movement of the 1970’s and flourish in the current environmental revival. Bi-Rite Market (www.biritemarket.com) defines itself as a neighborhood destination that celebrates local & sustainable food and is the founding member of the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses. Unlike Rainbow’s coop organizational model, Bi-Rite is an independent family owned market. Outside of the city limits, there are many other grocery stores that share similar organizational structure and values as Rainbow. Chico Natural Foods Cooperative (www.chiconatural.com), for example, visualizes a food industry where refinement, manipulation, packaging, and synthetic ingredients are kept to a minimum; where integrity and organic practices are the standard - an industry that cares about the environment and the health of its people. Similar to Rainbow, Chico Natural is a legal cooperative in which the members support it with their patronage, participate in decision-making, and share in the profits generated by the organization's activities. Chico Natural describes cooperatives as valuing self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In addition, the members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others. A fundamental difference between Chico Natural and Rainbow grocery is the sale of meat and seafood products. The debate over selling only vegetarian products occurs in many natural food stores. In 2006, the membership of Chico Natural voted to begin providing meat and seafood. To quell objections and ensure that the meat and seafood was sustainable raised they created a quality department to carry the best in local, humane, and sustainably produced products. They decided that they would only sell meat that is grass-fed, free-range and from trusted producers that are free of antibiotics, artificial hormones, stimulants, or animal by-products. While this was a difficult and controversial decision for the coop, it has helped them build relationships with their local farming community. San Francisco does not contain many if any meat or seafood farms which make the situation different. VII.Conclusion Rainbow Grocery is a unique organization that has managed to be successful despite the growing trend towards large grocery operations and factory farming. Over the years they have been able to hold on to their ideals and culture and focus on their mission; vegetarian food. While Rainbow’s mission, values and structure have served them well over the years, there are still many opportunities for improvement. This paper has outlined a few suggestions that will enable Rainbow to continue to grow and succeed into the future. First Rainbow should improve their marketing techniques to fit better with their customer base. This would include utilizing social media and the Internet to engage the community and their customers in their products. Other marketing techniques such as self branded t-shirts and reusable bags would also help the customers and employees identify as a community. This would further Rainbows mission to be inclusive and community building around fresh, local and organic food. In addition to a new marketing strategy, Rainbow would benefit from an expansion of their community involvement. In addition to offering cooking classes, they could expand their training to include thing such as nutritional seminars, yoga classes, and organic gardening. Currently the cooking classes are offered off-site. This creates disconnect between the grocery store and the cooking. To be truly effective Rainbow should create a facility onsite so the community can truly feel connected to the store. This can be as simple as a summer kitchen with a fire pit or an outside area where they can prepare raw foods. If Rainbow takes these simple actions they can continue to serve their mission and values while ensuring prosperity for their coop owners into the future. While Rainbow is not focused on economic growth or excess profits, they still must continue to be reasonably successful to allow the coop owners to fulfill their mission and goals. VII.References Bi-Rite Market, http://www.biritemarket.com/ Last Update 2009 Chico Natural Foods Cooperative http://www.chiconatural.com/ Copy Write 2009 Fair Trade Federation http://www.fairtradefederation.org/ Copy Write 2010 Principles of Management, Carpenter, Bauer, Erdogan Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, http://www.rainbow.coop Copy Write 2008

Rainbow Grocery Cooperative: Mission, Vision & Culture

by natachayarbrough on Nov 03, 2010

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Rainbow Grocery Cooperative: Mission, Vision & Culture — Document Transcript