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janicekwhite1
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| Joined: | Wed Apr 18th, 2007 |
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Posted: Wed Apr 18th, 2007 09:15 pm |
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| What is the advantage of starting a co-op, I don't see one in my area and I am interested.
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KSherrill
Moderator
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Posted: Thu Apr 19th, 2007 08:31 pm |
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There are many advantages to starting a co-op. But to start one, it would have to be determined that one is needed in your area. Where do you live?
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janicekwhite1
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Posted: Thu Apr 19th, 2007 09:56 pm |
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| I live in Suffolk, Virginia
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KSherrill
Moderator
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Posted: Fri Apr 20th, 2007 12:17 am |
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There is a co-op in Virginia Beach, so they would not set up a new one up in Suffolk. But it benefits you to order through the co-op because you only pay a fraction of the shipping you would if you ordered it directly from the Bread Beckers. You also get a discount through the co-op, especially if it is a large order.
If you are interested in ordering through the Virginia Beach co-op, just log on to http://www.breadbeckers.com and click on the Co-op link. Scroll down the page until you see the link for the VA Beach co-op. If you click on it, it will bring up an email you can send for information about that co-op. (We don't post private email addresses on the website.)
Let me know if you have any other questions! 
Last edited on Fri Apr 20th, 2007 12:17 am by KSherrill
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janicekwhite1
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Posted: Sat Apr 21st, 2007 11:23 pm |
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| Thank you for your help. I will look into that
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bristolsouth
Co-op Coordinator
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Posted: Sun Apr 22nd, 2007 12:29 pm |
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Janice - I'm working on my 3rd order as a coop coordinator of about 30 people. One benefit that isn't listed on the website is that you meet people who are like-minded in other ways. Another benefit of being a coordinator for the Bread Beckers is that they try to prevent competition between their coops. There are a couple coops about 25 miles away from you and depending on their size you starting a coop could potentially hurt them. (Zuni, Chesapeake & Virginia Beach) I have a couple ideas that you may or may not have thought about but I suggest these to my own members since it benefits them, me and the Bread Beckers.
1. Order for 6 months instead of 3. I have a member that lives an hour from me that does this. (Obviously, if your budget can handle that kind of hit.)
2. You could act as a what I call a "remote coordinator." - A coop coordinator gets members by word of mouth, Bread Beckers website and personally recruiting people. They also pay for the entire order personally and are responsible for collecting payment from their members. As a "remote coordinator you could would get together with some people in Suffolk who would order through you. If you choose to do this you would be completely responsible for collecting money from your people, for coordinating your orders early enough to get it in on time (order deadlines are posted on the website) and scheduling pick up times with your people. However, you cannot represent yourself as a Bread Becker's coop coordinator and you would not have the benefit of the website directing people to you. The benefits to doing this would be that you and the people you are ordering for are more likely to get the 10% discount on qualifying foods and you will increase the entire coops chance of getting the cheapest shipping.
3. A third idea would be to actively recruit people in Suffolk for your current coop. The benefit of this would increase the coops chance of getting the cheapest shipping rate and you could alternate the picking up your orders from 25 miles away. If you recruited 4 or 5 other people you, you could possibly limit the long drive to once a year.
I hope this helps.
Tom
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jimcarpenter
Administrator
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Posted: Sun Apr 22nd, 2007 07:27 pm |
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Janice:
Kate and Tom pretty well covered the question. Some details are found at http://www.breadbeckers.com/coops.htm
If you are interested in becoming a coordinator, send me a private message, or a message though the help desk, and give me your address and phone number and I will ask Brad to call you.
To be a coordinator, you really should be a "people person", because you do have to deal with a lot of people each quarter. You need the time to handle it. You need computer skills: spreadsheets and e-mails are used extensively to keep our co-op system running. We generally discuss the details over the phone once we are sure your location can be serviced, and that it won't adversely affect another co-op.
Jim
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janicekwhite1
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Posted: Mon Apr 23rd, 2007 02:17 am |
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| Thank you for your time, that is exactly what I was looking for. I did't understand the co-op thing and you did a great job explaining it. I will look into the co-ops near me and I really never thought about ordering for 6 months instead of 3. That's a great idea. I am pretty new at this and still learning, so thanks again for all your help!!!
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janicekwhite1
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Posted: Mon Apr 23rd, 2007 02:21 am |
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| Dear Kate I would be interested in becoming a co-ordinator if there was a need. There might be a need in the future, this bread is catching on quick at our church so the possiblity exists. Thank you for all your help. You are right they did a great job answering my question, that is exactly the infor I was looking for. If a need arises I will be sure to let you know! Thanks again for everything!!!
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KSherrill
Moderator
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Posted: Mon Apr 23rd, 2007 04:02 pm |
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Janice,
Another suggestion ... if you enjoy baking and talking to people, you could offer a bread demonstration at your church. Baking bread has really become a lost art, and folks are fascinated to watch someone mix the dough, knead it and shape it from scratch. They feel as if it's some impossibly difficult thing they could never do. But once they see it done, they feel it's possible and maybe not so hard after all.
As Tom suggested, you could be the point of contact for people in your area wanting to order. If an individual order is $300 or more, the discount is increased to 10%. So it would benefit you to pool your order with others.
I had a group do this at my old co-op, since they lived far away. One person would pick it up for a group of families. They rotated pick-up runs each quarter. You would have to separate out those orders, which is normally a job the coordinator handles. But you may decide it's worth it for the additional discount.
Kate
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janicekwhite1
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Posted: Wed Apr 25th, 2007 02:28 pm |
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| Kate, The bread demonstration is a great idea. Alot of people have asked me about it! Your help is wonderful. Thank you for taking the time.
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KSherrill
Moderator
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Posted: Wed Apr 25th, 2007 03:35 pm |
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I'm glad to help!
If you decide to do a bread demo and you have a few extra minutes, please let us know how it went, and maybe some ideas that you tried.
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CindyB
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Bangor, Maine USA |
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Posted: Mon Oct 8th, 2007 03:02 pm |
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| Hi does anyone know if there is a co-op in Bangor, Maine. If not I would like info on starting one. I just started milling my own flour, have wanted to do it for years, and I would have it any other way now. Thanks Cindy
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jimcarpenter
Administrator
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Posted: Tue Oct 9th, 2007 09:24 pm |
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Cindy:
There is not a Bread Becker co-op in Maine. It's too far for us to deliver. I could get freight quotes for you, but you would need a lot of product to get reasonable rates. You might have better luck searching the internet for "food cooperative" in your area.
But I'd love to give you a quote if you think you can get a big enough order together (several people).
Thanks,
Jim
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Alison in KY
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Posted: Tue Nov 25th, 2008 10:11 pm |
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| How about the Western Kentucky area?
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jimcarpenter
Administrator
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Posted: Wed Nov 26th, 2008 01:48 pm |
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We have a map of the current co-op locations at http://www.breadbeckers.com/coops.html
We do not deliver to KY at this time; if you'd like to send me an e-mail with your address to the Help Desk, I'll work up a commercial freight quote for you.
Our contact info is on this site at http://breadbeckers.mywowbb.com/forum1/6.html
Thanks,
Jim
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Alison in KY
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Posted: Wed Nov 26th, 2008 02:46 pm |
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Thanks anyway. A friend owns a local health food store and they receive regular shipments from BB's..I've inquired before about driving to KY. One day maybe it will happen
Thank you,
Alison
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