Thanks to all who attended last week’s Spring General Membership Meeting, to the East Passyunk Community Recreation Center for hosting us, and and to South Philly Barbacoa for the delicious snacks! 

Missed the meeting? We’ve got you covered. Here’s a recap of what we discussed:

State of the Co-op:

The search for a space continues, and as we have said previously, given the inventory and pricing of today's South Philadelphia real estate market, opening a successful co-op will mean finding a development partner who is as dedicated to and passionate about this community as we are. The great news is that we are in conversation with such a partner, about an extremely promising space to call our home.

We are farther along in the negotiation process than the Co-op has ever been before. We've been down this road before (although never quite this far) and things haven't worked out, so nothing is final yet. We'll share more details when we can, so stay tuned!

In financial news, the Co-op generated $5,393 in net income this fiscal year and has $144,055 in total assets. The Board has also engaged local business consultants Elysian Fields to further refine the Co-op’s financial models.

Board Election Results:

Thanks to all who made your voices heard in this year’s Board Elections. Congratulations to returning board members Jessica Calter, Angel D’Ippolito, Alison Fritz, Anna Kiesel, Matt Stern and to brand new board members Katy Travaline and Emily Wyner! And of course, a big thank you to our outgoing board members, Josh Richards and Anna Shipp, for your hard work over the years!

Introducing the South Philly Blend:



This smoky, savory blend of South and Central American coffee with chocolate undertones is now available through our new buying club partnership with Philly Fair Trade Roasters. Pick up your coffee monthly at Cinemug starting June 16th.  Try it out for just a month, or commit to 3 or 6 months for additional savings. Sales benefit the South Philly Food Co-op and member-owners get $1 off per 1-pound bag, so place your order today!

Product Preferences Survey Results:

The results of our Product Preferences Survey are in with over 160 responses! As a cooperative store, our member-owners will decide what we carry and how we source it.  At the meeting, we dug into how our members eat and shop, and what concerns them most when choosing their groceries (hint: local, fresh, high-quality products at reasonable prices).  To see the full results of the survey, click here.

New Member (Or just want to get more involved)?: 

Attend our upcoming New Member Orientation on June 8. Click here for details and to RSVP.

To celebrate the businesses who are part of the Co-op's Shop South Philly discount program and thank them for their great support over the last couple years, we want to encourage our members to take advantage of these discounts and specials by shopping or dining at the Shop South Philly businesses. We also want to give everyone a chance to have a little fun and win great prizes while doing so!

Starting November 18 and running through December 29, we invite you to take a picture that represents you shopping at, eating at or using one of these businesses. The rules are very loose on what has to be in the picture.

Get your cell phone or camera and (for example)...

• Take a picture of yourself and/or others in front of or in a business or attraction like Bartram's Garden, the Bottle Shop, Living Waters Massage, or Occasionette...
• Or a picture of something that represents the business or service - a Bennett Compost bucket, a car from Enterprise CarShare or Zipcar or Uber, a Wash Cycle bike whizzing by (or a picture of yourself with one of the riders), or your dog being walked by Monster Minders...
• Or, of course, take a picture of a great meal or snack from Breezy's Cafe, Black n Brew, Grindcore House, or Lucky Old Souls (we all take pictures of our food anyway, right?)...

Share the picture on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook (and here's the important part) with the hashtag #shopsouthphilly. That way, we'll be able to search for all the pictures easily. You also should also include the name of the business. If you know the Facebook name, Twitter handle or Instagram name of the business link to that. Two of our Co-op volunteers were out last Sunday at Breezy's Cafe and snapped this picture of their great brunch on Instagram:

The Prizes

Each week we'll pick one picture to win a great bunch of prizes that includes... wait for it... a South Philly Food Co-op coffee mug, all packaged in a cool little canvas South Philly Food Co-op bag from Occasionette.

On Monday, December 30th, we'll post all six weekly winners plus a few of our other favorites on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages and let everyone vote with their Likes, Hearts, Retweets, Stars, Comments and whatever else constitutes some kind of engagement with the picture. The highest vote getter by midnight on Sunday, January 5th will get our Grand Prize... which has yet to be determined but will be awesome.

This holiday season, whether you're out shopping for gifts, taking some time to go out and have some fun, or looking to use services from car sharing to composting, dog walking to baby birthing, please consider on of the businesses that have been supporting the South Philly Food Co-op. And if you're not a member-owner of the Co-op yet, consider joining to take advantage of these great offers.

On November 18th... let the #SHOPSOUTHPHILLY picture taking BEGIN!

Connect with us:

Instagram: @southphillyfoodcoop

Facebook: South Philly Food Co-op

Twitter: @spfoodcoop