Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:The Target audience reached by COMPRA Food's efforts during the 3-year grant period consisted of: 24 small stores in Los Angeles' Promise Zone who have been consistent ordering member stores in the COMPRA Foods program. They were equipped with COMPRA Foods produce deliveries weekly and provided with one-on-one assistance services. 100% of these storeowners or store operators were minorities. Approximately 64 stores engaged and resulted either as consistent stores or ordered a few times throughout the 3-year grant period outreach. 3 produce wholesalers including 4Earth Farms, Heath & Lejeune (H&L) and Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement (APIFM) Program: Roots CSA, previously known as (Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance (AIOPA). We also brokered relationships with other wholesalers concentrated at the LA produce Terminal Market such as Rain Forest Produce, Tijuana's Produce Inc., West Coast Tropical, Go-Fresh Produce Inc., and LA produce Distributors. An estimated 80,000-100,000 residents in low-income, grocery store-poor communities. Through member store surveys, we gathered data which projects that between 80,000 and 100,000 local residents have encountered the COMPRA Foods program. The majority of store patrons/local residents were in a LMI/economically disadvantaged income bracket. Efforts from the 3-year grant period included: A total of 9 outreach workers hired. These outreach workers were tasked with informing community members about COMPRA Foods. Their main objective was to bring in new, interested storeowners and store operators from the Los Angeles Promise Zone and other food desert communities. This effort increased the reach to the community by engaging over 80-100,000 residents in low-income, grocery store-poor communities. 1,000 stores visited by the outreach team over a 3-year grant period. The team engaged 64 stores to order at least once and retained 24 stores to remain as consistent buyers from COMPRA Foods. Approximately 3,000 hours of one-on-one technical assistance including marketing assistance, inventory management consulting, product procurement assistance, business plan development, marketing workshops hosted by Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC), and referrals to loans and other capital-related resources to the 64 engaged stores. The development of Small Business Coaching Modules made available to individual storeowners that addressed their business needs on an individual, case by case basis. The creation of a comprehensive COMPRA Foods Business Plan, that outlined current and forecasted profit and loss statements; current and future objectives; sustainability and efficiency goals. Changes/Problems:During the 3-year grant period, the COMPRA Foods team made a few changes to the project outcomes. These adjustments allowed the team to gain a better perspective on how to better execute for the coming years as a model to be replicated in other cities and communities. Website - With the implementation of the COMPRA Foods website, LURN hoped store owners would be able to order their produce weekly creating dependency. Although they do have the option, store owners express that their preferred source of communication is through text or phone calls. Many of these store owners will need continued technical assistance and technology support to access the website to move towards self-ordering. Snack program - In 2016, LURN spent a significant amount of time understanding the various healthy snack guidelines, including standards set by the Department of Public Health through the Vending Machine Nutrition Policy. While the team was quite enthusiastic about introducing a new healthy line of snacks to markets, many hurdles were encountered. First, sourcing the product directly from the distributor. The demand from COMPRA Foods stores never quite increased as we anticipated. The stores cited issues such as a lack of brand recognition by its customers. Others stated one flavor was most preferred over the others making it difficult to move the entire inventory of bars. Second, while we worked closely with the ownership of With Love Market to maintain a steady source of supply, they experienced their own capacity limitations. Finally, LURN also invested more in providing samples and taste testing to build up demand that did not yield the returns we expected. The team realized an effort like this requires more education on the consumer side than the market side. While the effort to directly serve as a distributor of healthy snacks did not come to fruition as anticipated, LURN will continue to explore other avenues to connect store owners to vendors who provide healthy snacks. Street Team - Initially COMPRA Foods planned to hire 10 individuals for the street team each grant period year. In the grant period's first year, LURN hired 4 individuals to be leaders of the "street" team and through a partnership with the National Health Foundation, recruited 15 students to join. Through feedback and the reassessment of the outreach plan, LURN came to understand that the best method was to minimize frequent trainings and to establish consistency in branding. In addition to lessons learned from previous outreach efforts over the past three years, the team was able to learn from purchasing trend data collected by the web-based tracker system. Stores were evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively to determine their alignment to the mission of COMPRA Foods. This approach allowed us to refine program operations and improve efficiencies across all partnerships. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Below is a list of training and professional developments provided by COMPRA Foods, via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC): Field Trip & Learning Tour at Alba Snacks & Services- Alba Snacks & Services is a South LA store that underwent a renovation and received technical assistance support from retail consultants and the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. Store owner, Nelson Garcia, and other retail consultants guided a group of other storeowners and community members through Alba for a tour and a quick history of Alba market's transformation. Presentations were made on healthy food marketing and branding, community partnerships, organizing healthy food demand, and procurement strategies. Storeowner attendees identified a few individualized action steps for healthy changes, such as merchandising and product examples. They were given information on services that they can access such as those offered by COMPRA Foods as well as other partners like Groceryships. Learning Tour of Northgate González Market- A diverse community of nonprofit, government, industry, and neighborhood groups came together to learn and connect with corner store owners and entrepreneurs at this healthy food business seminar, where participants learned best practices on how to carry out a good healthy food business. The Business of Neighborhood Markets- LURN and the LA Food Policy Council hosted a roundtable event called "The Business of Neighborhood Markets." The roundtable invited scholars and practitioners on "market makeovers" to share their experiences working with small corner stores. As part of this event, LURN shared key learnings with important community constituents and member storeowners to promote the work of COMPRA Foods and share important lessons. Community Health, Nutrition, & You - The Los Angeles Food Policy Council hosted a group workshop, where storeowners provided suggestions on healthy snack ideas for their establishments such as fresh cut fruits and vegetables. 4th Annual HEALTHY FOODS, HEALTHY BUSINESSES Conference- Store owners, vendors, resource providers, and other food retailers will gather together at the end of August 2016 for an all-day training to learn how to grow and manage their healthy food retail business. Hank's Mini Market - Hank's Mini Market Renovation is located in a food desert and was highlighted as a transformation project for their community. The project team held a re-opening event that drew attention to the new fresh produce and healthy grocery options at the store. There was a celebration that included free food and an art table for children as well as a live DJ that filled the streets with music. Sam's Corner Market - Sam's Corner Market went under a transformation project and drew attention to the new fresh produce and healthy grocery options they have at the store. City officials awarded the storeowner and staff with certificates. Over 157 store customers and community residents participated in food demos, blood pressure screenings, nutrition workshops, seedling giveaways and children's activities, such as balloon animal making, silly putting playing and coloring. EBT/WIC Vendor Training - LAFPC via the Healthy Neighborhood Market Network hosted a one-day informational workshop and training for store owners interested in becoming EBT and/or WIV certified vendors. Store owners received an overview of the application process, as well as requirement, and were invited to begin the online application on site. LAFPC's Business Counselor followed up with store owners after the workshop to assist each applicant in completing and submitting the application. Marketing and Branding Workshops - Marketing professionals were invited to share with store owners their tips and tools to improve marketing and branding of their stores. The workshop was held at Hank's Mini Market to provide an example of successful branding. Storeowner, Kelli Jackson also spoke about her process in creating her business brand. Storeowners completed exercise to help them draft potential branding images that they'd like for their business and were given feedback. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Customers for existing COMPRA Foods member stores were surveyed every 3-4 months. They were informed about the work of COMPRA Foods, and how the program delivered fresh and affordable produce to their local stores. We also introduced the cooperative model in their community, with hopes of raising public understanding of the lack of fresh produce in their community and how purchasing cooperatives can mitigate food desert issues. The LURN team approached a few farmers markets to source produce but due to pricing, the markup was too high for member stores. LURN's close partnerships with community-based organizations has allowed for the engagement of various constituents and inform them of the work of COMPRA Foods in their neighborhood. Additionally, LURN provided numerous presentations throughout California on COMPRA Foods and its objectives and model: Social Enterprise Challenge - In March of 2016, LURN participated in the Southern California Social Entrepreneurship Venture Challenge. LURN "pitched" COMPRA Foods to a group of business professionals, for funding consideration and to receive program critiques and sustainability recommendations. Social Enterprise Board - In April of 2016, LURN presented on COMPRA Foods before an audience of social enterprise enthusiasts, organized by the Social Enterprise Alliance. Los Angeles County Arts Tune Up - In May of 2016, LURN presented on COMPRA Foods to a group of small business professionals in Pomona, CA. This event was organized by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and was designed to provide startup businesses with lessons and examples on running social enterprises. Healthy Foods Healthy Business Conference- In August of 2016, The Los Angeles Food Policy Council hosted a Healthy Foods, Healthy Business Conference, where a number of attendees are current COMPRA Foods storeowners. The Conference offered free workshops and resources for entrepreneurs interested in bringing in more healthy food to their stores. Field Trip & Learning Tour at Alba Snacks & Services - LURN was part of the programming at this Learning Tour in August of 2016 mentioned above, and made a presentation on COMPRA Foods, the services offered and how storeowners can find out more information and become a member store. Farm Blitz- In March of 2017, A Farm called Huerta de Valle in Ontario hosted a conference on Urban Food Hubs & Community Gardens. They invited a representative from the COMPRA Foods team to visit their location. They gave a presentation and program introduction to conference attendees. Social Enterprise Alliance- In March 2017, the Social Enterprise Alliance invited COMPRA Foods to present on their model at their annual conference. East LA Community Corporation (ELACC) Co-op- In May 2017, ELACC invited a representative from the COMPRA Foods team to present on the program to members of their future business cooperative. Participating business owners were interested in not only LURN's micro-loan program but also in COMPRA Foods as a potential source of produce for their stores. Mexican Consulate of LA- In June 2017, the Mexican Consulate hosted a general information gathering on COMPRA foods. This session was advertised in their network and was attended by over 30 interested individuals. USC "Social Innovations Startups and Scaling" Lecture- In October 2017, COMPRA Foods staff was invited to share lessons from COMPRA Foods to an audience of emerging social entrepreneurs. USC Marshall Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab- In October 2017, COMPRA Foods staff offered a lecture on the development of COMPRA Foods. Southern California Leadership Network- In April 2018, staff delivered a presentation on how COMPRA Foods is increasing access to healthy food in low-income areas of Los Angeles. LA Promise Zone "Neighborhoods Working Group"- In May 2018, staff delivered a presentation to organizations working within LA's "Promise Zone" in order to explore new partnerships and ways to recruit new stores to procure healthy produce from COMPRA Foods. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Community Markets Purchasing Real and Affordable Foods (COMPRA Foods) is a purchasing cooperative that creates an alternative food distribution system for underserved small markets and convenience stores in "food desert" neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Because these retailers are so small, they do not meet the threshold required by mainstream food wholesalers that offer better products at lower prices. Therefore, these food entrepreneurs, often the only full-time employee at their establishment, stock their shelves with products from local grocery stores and big-box stores, paying normal retail prices and selling it to their customers at higher prices. By introducing affordable and accessible healthy food to small community markets and liquor stores, LURN is effectively closing the service gap that is further perpetuating food deserts, and thereby positively impacting low-income consumers tremendously. To address this issue, COMPRA Foods has engaged approximately 64 stores located in grocery store-poor, low-income, food desert communities into a purchasing cooperative. LURN collects orders of fresh produce from member stores, purchases items in bulk from a distribution partner, and delivers products weekly, with the help of Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement (APIFM), previously known as Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance (AIOPA) prior to 2017. Member stores are also offered technical and marketing assistance via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council (LAFPC), as well as business coaching strategies to help sustain their businesses and ensure that they maintain healthy sales of produce in their stores. LURN hopes this model creates a sustainable and scalable purchasing cooperatives model that can be implemented across food deserts nationwide. LURN recruited small food retailers to participate in COMPRA Foods using a "street" team hired from the target community. COMPRA Foods hired 4 individuals to be leaders of the "street" team. Through a partnership with the National Health Foundation, NHF trained 15 students on outreach, communications, and surveying to join the outreach team of 4. The leaders maintained the group of organizers to minimize frequent trainings and to establish consistency in strategy. In addition to lessons learned from previous outreach efforts over the past three years, the team was able to learn from purchasing trend data collected by the web-based tracker system. Stores were evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively to determine their alignment to the mission of COMPRA Foods. This approach allowed COMPRA Foods to refine the operations and improve efficiencies across all partnerships. The outreach team visited 1,000 stores over a 3-year grant period and were able to engage 64 stores to order at least once and retained 24 stores to remain as consistent buyers from COMPRA Foods. Established working relationships with growers, large distributors, and wholesalers. LURN and LAFPC began with a single produce vendor, 4EarthFarms, and shifted to multiple vendors at the Los Angeles Produce Terminal Market. This move expanded relationships to include more distributors and growers. Also, this improved the ability to offer diverse produce offerings, at more competitive prices. By offering diverse produce, orders increased allowing the augmentation of delivery days. LURN and APIFM increased delivery days from one to two days of services. The COMPRA Foods team explored, maintained and grew relationships with various food businesses for the purpose of expanding COMPRA's healthy food offerings. This included snack vendors to secure better prices and healthier options available for local communities. The transition to purchasing produce at the LA Produce Terminal Market at the 2-year mark, allowed COMPRA Foods to order a variety of quantities from vendors there. This significantly decreased food waste as we now could purchase without order minimums. The partnership with H&L allowed COMPRA Foods to receive and maintain a storage and prep space below market-rate, based on their support of COMPRA's mission. Developed an effective ordering and distribution system for participating food retailers. LURN worked on developing a web-based application early in the grant period in order to aggregate both produce purchase and pricing data, frequency of purchases per store, and pounds distributed. Once developed, the application improved operational efficiencies and revealed important data and evaluation criteria to guide the strategy plan. Through observations and informal conversations, LURN assessed the capacities of participating stores to determine what features and level of sophistication a potential order and tracking system needed to include for feasibility of participating stores. Additionally, LURN assessed every store's access to the internet and technological equipment, as they are important factors in utilizing COMPRA Foods' web-based application. By the end of the grant period, the web-based application system was in full operation and now guides COMPRA Foods' produce purchases, sorting and distribution. Established a network of technical assistance providers to support participating retailers. LURN developed a cadre of technical assistance providers who offered services/support to members of COMRPA Foods. These services included: Marketing Assistance - LURN assisted 24 stores with marketing support which included signage and produce display development, product placement, as well as branding and advertising assistance. Additionally, LURN promoted all stores through its network of partner community organizations. Accounting support - LURN assisted 24 stores with accounting support to help stores adjust price points during bulk ordering, and also in determining the appropriate prices at which to sell COMPRA products. Inventory management consulting - LURN assisted 64 stores with inventory management support which consisted of product placement assistance and helping storeowners determine appropriate locations for healthy produce. Product procurement assistance - LURN assisted 64 stores with product procurement in order to help storeowners select the produce that is best according to season, freshness, availability and customer desires. Business plan development - COMPRA Foods worked with 5 stores to develop business plans for each. Each store intended on improving and/or expanding their produce sections as well as updating their branding strategies to improve customer satisfaction and experience. Referrals to loans and other capital-related resources- LURN distributed loans to two storeowners located in the Promise Zone, with one store paying off their loan in full by the end of the grant period. LURN offered technical assistance to 64-member stores total. The organization believes that the assistance and coaching made COMPRA Foods stand out as a unique program that took a holistic approach to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners in low-income communities. These stores needed more than just an injection of healthy food, they needed the assistance and coaching to help maintain these new offerings and to make sure sales were maintained and increased over time. Designed a comprehensive sustainability plan for COMPRA Foods that does not require philanthropic support. A sustainability component has been integrated into the business plan for COMPRA Foods. LURN implemented an affordable delivery fee, which consisted of orders below $30 constituting a 15% delivery fee, and orders above $30 dollars paying a flat fee of $5 per delivery. This has helped to offset programmatic costs and has encouraged those storeowners who purchased small amounts to remain active in the program. We've also encouraged stores to increase their purchasing minimum of $35/week with the ultimate goal of purchasing a minimum of $75/week.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
DeFosset AR, Kwan A, Rizik-Baer D, Gutierrez L, Gase LN, Kuo T. Implementing a Healthy Food Distribution Program: A Supply Chain Strategy to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Access in Underserved Areas. Prev Chronic Dis 2018;15:170291. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.170291
|
Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience: The Target audience reached by our efforts during this reporting period are: 24 small stores in the Promise Zone that have been equipped with COMPRA produce delivery weekly and one-on-one assistance services, and are now member stores in the COMPRA Foods program; 100% of these storeowners or store operators are minorities Throughout the grant period, we have brokered partnerships with produce wholesalers such as 4Earth Farms, Heath & Lejeune and APIFM's Roots CSA. Currently our wholesalers are concentrated at the LA Produce Terminal Market and include: Rain Forest Produce, Tijuana's Produce Inc., West Coast Tropical, Go-Fresh Produce Inc., LA Produce Distributors and others. We estimate that we've reached 80,000-1000,000 residents in low-income grocery store-poor communities. From our surveys of member stores we've gathered data that approximates 100 patrons per store, per day, our estimates assumes that anywhere between 80,000 and 100,000 local residents have encountered the COMPRA Foods program over the past reporting period. The majority of store patrons/local residents are in an LMI/economically disadvantaged income bracket. Efforts from this reporting period include: Existing outreach workers, who are in the field and informing community members about COMPRA Foods and bringing in new, interested storeowners and store operators from the Promise Zone and from other food desert communities. Offering one-on-one technical assistance including marketing assistance, inventory management consulting, product procurement assistance, business plan development, marketing workshops hosted by LAFPC, referrals to loans and other capital-related resources to 24 member stores; The previously developed Small Business Coaching Modules continue to be made available to individual storeowners, addressing their business needs on an individual, case by case basis; and Updating of the COMPRA Foods Business Plan, that outlines current and forecasted profit and loss statements; current and future objectives; sustainability and efficiency goals. ? Changes/Problems:We have been working hard to include healthy snacks in our product offerings to low-income stores and markets in food desert communities. However, after two and a ½ years of providing produce and technical assistance to small stores and experimenting with healthy snack offerings, we have found that healthy snacks have been a difficult new product to introduce. Primarily, we found that it is because we are competing with the low prices of snack products like chips and cookies from recognizable multi-million dollar brands. These products have a longer shelf life and their high level of demand cannot compete with unrecognizable healthy snack packages that storeowners are not familiar with and not eager to purchase. We recognize that offering healthy snack alternatives are simply too difficult of a market for our small team to enter at this time. Considering our current capacity, across all of our partnerships, we deduced that we would need to outreach to the end users to encourage them to buy the healthy snacks, and we would also need to subsidize free samples and free products to test the market. We hope that the future of COMPRA Foods could see such a development, but we felt it was more imperative to focus on healthy produce and increasing access to fruits and vegetables in the interim. We have also been working hard to include an interface in our web-based application for storeowners themselves to place orders electronically. However, after several months of technical assistance and surveying we found that storeowners are simply not ready to use an online system for ordering produce. We found that there is a significant gap in access to wireless internet and technology as well as a gap in knowledge and ability to navigate such an application. We learned that implementing a technology requirement for orders would deter many of our storeowners from participating in COMPRA Foods. We are continuing to ask questions of storeowners to learn more about their capacity and to gauge their willingness to adopt a new ordering system, and in the meantime are deploying technical assistance support related to technology as needed. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Throughout the year, LURN and the LA Food Policy Council offer one-on-one coaching and technical assistance sessions to serve the individual needs of storeowners on a case by case basis. These individualized nature of COMPRA Foods' coaching sessions contributes to the success and retention of stores engaged in the program. This year, the team is re-evaluating the technical assistance services offered in order to glean lessons from the first year and to improve and make adjustments as needed. Below are some examples of training and professional development that has been provided by COMPRA Foods, via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council: Food Demonstrations Description: LAFPC collaborated with community organizations to host food demonstrations at partnering corner stores. These food demonstration featured healthy food recipes and incorporated produce offered at the store. Food Demonstration, hosted by APIFM El Latino Market, 09/22/17 Sam's Corner Market, 09/22/17 Food Demonstration, hosted by SEE-LA Windsor Hills Wine & Spirits, 9/22/17 Arlington Heights Mini Market, 9/26/17 Food Demonstrations, hosted by Todo Verde El Recreo Meat Market, 9/27/17 Food Demonstrations, hosted by Para Los Ninos Sam's Corner Market, 9/29/17 & 12/1/17 Sam's Corner Grand Re-Opening, 10/28/17 Description: This event celebrated the completion of the Sam's Corner store transformation project and drew attention to the new fresh produce and healthy grocery options at the store. City officials awarded the storeowner and staff with certificates, and the project partners spoke reflecting on the storeowners' leadership throughout the store transformation project. Over 157 store customers and community residents participated in food demos, blood pressure screenings, nutrition workshops, seedling giveaways, and children's activities, such as balloon animal making, silly putty play and coloring. Hank's Mini Market Re-Opening, 4/7/18 Description: This event celebrated the completion of the Hank's Mini Market transformation project and drew attention to the new fresh produce and healthy grocery options at the store. There was a celebration that included free food and an art table for children as well as a live DJ that filled the street with music. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Customers who patron existing COMPRA member stores are surveyed every 6 months. They are also informed about the work of COMPRA, and how our program delivers fresh and affordable produce to their local stores. We also aim to introduce the cooperative model active in their community, with hopes to enhance public understanding of lack of fresh produce in their community and also how purchasing cooperatives can mitigate food desert issues. Additionally, our close partnerships with community-based organizations is also a mechanism from which we are able to reach their membership base and inform them of the work of COMPRA in their community. Recently, LURN has made several presentations throughout California on COMPRA Foods and its objectives and model: Social Enterprise Alliance - March 2017 USC Lecture during a course on "Social Innovations Startups and Scaling"- October 2017 USC Marshall Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab - October 2017 Southern California Leadership Network - April 2018 LA Promise Zone: Neighborhoods Working Group - May 2018 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the course of the next reporting period, LURN plans to: Increase outreach efforts to integrate an additional 6 stores in the COMPRA Foods cooperative Offer more technical assistance and business coaching to more member stores to increase their sales and to increase COMPRA Foods' overall impact in food desert communities Continue to track the impact of delivery fee/cooperative model in COMPRA Foods' financials, using the business plan and sustainability plan Establish new relationships with distributors and snack purveyors to diversify COMPRA Foods' sources of produce.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
COMPRA Foods is a purchasing cooperative that creates an alternative food distribution system for underserved small markets and convenience stores in "food desert" neighborhoods in LA. There is currently a debilitating service gap in the food system in these communities, with no major grocery stores in many low-income communities, families are required to buy food at the elevated costs found at these small markets. This economic system is perpetuating the public health crisis in low-income communities where people are facing record rates of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. To address this issue, COMPRA Foods has organized 24 stores located in grocery store-poor, low-income, food desert communities into a purchasing cooperative. LURN collects orders of fresh produce from member stores, purchases items in bulk from several distribution partners, and delivers products weekly, with the help of APIFM. Member stores are also offered technical and marketing assistance via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council's, as well as business coaching strategies to help sustain their businesses and ensure that they maintain healthy sales of produce in their stores. The COMPRA Foods team hopes that these successes will continue and that LURN can further glean important lessons in order to create a sustainable and scalable purchasing cooperatives model to be implemented across food deserts nationwide. Objectives Report: Below is a description of the activities that will be implemented over the course of the next three years to reach the intended goals and outcomes. 1. Recruit small food retailers to participate in COMPRA Foods using a "street" team hired from the target community. The team is working to maintain the existing group of organizers to minimize frequent trainings and to establish consistency in the organizing strategy. In addition to lessons learned from previous outreach efforts over the past two years, our team is gleaning lessons from purchasing trend data collected by the web-based tracker system. Stores are being evaluated both quantitative and qualitatively to determine their alignment to the mission of the purchasing cooperative. This approach has allowed us to refine our operations and improve efficiencies across all partnerships. a. The outreach team has retained 20 existing stores and recruited an additional 4 stores to join COMPRA Foods' membership cooperative totaling 24 businesses to date, leading up to our 30 member expectation by the close of the grant. 2. Establish working relationships with growers, large distributors, and wholesalers. a. LURN and LAFPC shifted from a majority single vendor, 4EarthFarms, to multiple vendors at the Los Angeles Produce Terminal Market. This move not only expanded our relationships to include more distributors and growers but also improved our ability to offer more diverse produce offerings, at more competative prices. We were also able to augment our delivery days, growing from just one to now two days of delivery services. We are still maintaining our storage facility with Heath and Lejeune. b. The COMPRA Foods team is continuing to explore relationships and partnerships with various food businesses for the purpose of expanding COMPRA's healthy food offerings, including snack vendors to secure better prices and healthier options available for local communities. c. Purchasing produce at the LA Produce Terminal Market has allowed us to access a wider selection of products at more competitive prices. We've also been able to purchase in a variety of quantities from the vendors at the Terminal Market, significantly decreasing food waste. H&L continues to offer COMPRA Foods storage and prep space well below market-rate, based on their understanding and support of COMPRA's mission. 3. Develop an effective ordering and distribution system for participating food retailers. a. LURN has been using its recently developed web-based application that aggregates both produce purchase and pricing data, collects frequency of purchases per store, tracks pounds distributed as well as other additional features. This application has improved operational efficiencies and reveals important data and evaluation criteria. b. LURN is continuing to assess, through observations and informal conversations, the capacities of participating stores to determine what features and level of sophistication a potential order and tracking system must include to be feasible for participating stores. Additionally, we are also assessing through observations every store's current internet access and access to technological equipment, as they are important factors in this supplementary feature of our web-based application. c. Currently, the web-based application system is in full operation and guides COMPRA Foods' produce purchases, sorting and distribution. We are continuing to evaluate and make final updates to improve the application in preparation for the close of the grant period. 4. Establish a network of technical assistance providers to support participating retailers. a. LURN will develop a database of technical assistance providers who can offer services/support to members of COMRPA Foods. These services will include: i. Marketing Assistance LURN has assisted 24 stores with marketing support thus far, examples include: signage and produce display support, product placement, as well as branding and advertising assistance. Additionally, we have promoted all stores through our network of partner community organizations. ii. Accounting support LURN has assisted 24 stores with accounting support thus far, examples include helping stores navigate the price points during bulk ordering, and also determining the appropriate prices at which to sell COMPRA products. iii. Inventory management consulting LURN has assisted 24 stores with inventory management support thus far, examples include product placement assistance and helping storeowners determine appropriate locations for healthy produce. iv. Product procurement assistance LURN has assisted 24 stores with product procurement assistance thus far, examples include helping storeowners select the produce that is best according to season, freshness, availability and customer desires. v. Business plan development COMPRA Foods continues to work with 3 stores with business plan development. Each store intends on improving and/or expanding their produce sections as well as updating their branding strategies to improve customer satisfaction and experience. vi. Referrals to loans and other capital-related resources LURN has distributed loans to two storeowners located in the Promise Zone, with one store recently paying off their loan in full. b. Thus far LURN has offered technical assistance to 24 member stores total. We believe that this assistance and coaching makes COMPRA Foods stand out as a unique program that takes a holistic approach to assisting entrepreneurs and small business owners in low-income communities. These stores need more than just an injection of healthy food, they need the assistance and coaching to help maintain these new offerings and to make sure sales are maintained and even increase. 5. Design a comprehensive sustainability plan for COMPRA Foods that does not require philanthropic support. a. A sustainability component has been integrated into the developing business plan for COMPRA Foods. LURN implemented an affordable delivery fee, which consists of orders below $30 constituting a 15% delivery fee, and orders above $30 dollars paying a flat fee of $5 per delivery. This has helped to offset programmatic costs and has encouraged those storeowners who purchase small amounts to remain active in the program. We've also been encouraging stores to increase their purchasing minimum of $35/week with the ultimate goal of purchasing a minimum of $75/week. This is to make sure that stores are aligned and committed to the mission.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
DeFosset AR, Kwan A, Rizik-Baer D, Gutierrez L, Gase LN, Kuo T. Implementing a Healthy Food Distribution Program: A Supply Chain Strategy to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Access in Underserved Areas. Prev Chronic Dis 2018;15:170291. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.170291
|
Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The Target audience reached by our efforts during this reporting period are: 20 small stores in the Promise Zone that have been equipped with COMPRA produce delivery weekly and one-on-one assistance services, and are now member stores in the COMPRA Foods program; 100% of these storeowners or store operators are minorities 3 produce wholesalers including 4Earth Farms, Heath & Lejeune and APIFM (Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement, previously named AIOPA): Roots CSA, with whom COMPRA Foods has brokered relationships with; and We estimate that we've reached 70,000-90,000 residents in low-income grocery store-poor communities. From our surveys of member stores we've gathered data that approximates 100 patrons per store, per day, our estimates assumes that anywhere between 70,000 and 90,000 local residents have encountered the COMPRA Foods program over the past year. The majority of store patrons/local residents are in an LMI/economically disadvantage income bracket. Efforts from this reporting period include: Hiring 4 additional outreach workers, who are in the field and informing community members about COMPRA Foods and bringing in new, interested storeowners and store operators from the Promise Zone and from other food desert communities. Offering one-on-one technical assistance including marketing assistance, inventory management consulting, product procurement assistance, business plan development, marketing workshops hosted by LAFPC, referrals to loans and other capital-related resources to 20 member stores; The development of Small Business Coaching Modules to be made available to individual storeowners, addressing their business needs on an individual, case by case basis; and The creation of a comprehensive COMPRA Foods Business Plan, that outlines current and forecasted profit and loss statements; current and future objectives; sustainability and efficiency goals. ? Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Below are some examples of training and professional development that has been provided by COMPRA Foods, via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council: Social Media Workshop - In April 2017 a social media workshop was hosted by one of our technical assistance providers to facilitate a group learning session on how to take the best photos and how to post them for the most engagement. Storeowners learned about curating content and other important skills that can uplift their story and their business. State of the Food Desert - In March 2017, The LA Food Policy Council hosted approximately 200 attendees to unpack and examine the state of healthy food access in LA's food desert communities and consider ways the good food movement can play a role in addressing socioeconomic and racial disparities in health and food access. Member stores were encouraged to attend and left with tangible solutiosn on how to address the conditions of food deserts and the best measures of success. Attendees contributed to a collective policy platform that will help to serve as a blueprint for the food movement in LA over the next few years. Continuous One-on-One Coaching Sessions - Throughout the year, LURN and the LA Food Policy Council offer one-on-one coaching and technical assistance sessions to serve the individual needs of storeowners on a case by case basis. These individualized nature of COMPRA Foods' coaching sessions contributes to the success and retention of stores engaged in the program. This year, the team is re-evaluating the technical assistance services offered in order to glean lessons from the first year and to improve and make adjustments as needed. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Customers who patron existing COMPRA member stores are surveyed every 3-4 months. They are also informed about the work of COMPRA, and how our program delivers fresh and affordable produce to their local stores. We also aim to introduce the cooperative model active in their community, with hopes to enhance public understanding of lack of fresh produce in their community and also how purchasing cooperatives can mitigate food desert issues. Additionally, our close partnerships with community-based organizations is also a mechanism from which we are able to reach their membership base and inform them of the work of COMPRA in their community. Recently, LURN has made several presentations throughout California on COMPRA Foods and its objectives and model: Farm Blitz - In March of 2017 A farm called Huerta de Valle in Ontario hosted a conference on Urban Food Hubs & Community Gardens. They invited a representative from the COMPRA Foods team to visit their location and give a presentation and program introduction to conference attendees. East LA Community Corporation (ELACC) Co-op - In May 2017 ELACC invited a representation from the COMPRA Foods team to come make a presentation on the program to members of their future business cooperative. Participating business owners were interested in not only LURN's micro-loan program but also in COMPRA Foods as a potential source of produce for their stores. Mexican Consulate of Los Angeles- In June 2017, the Mexican Consulate hosted a general informational gathering on COMPRA Foods. This session was advertised in their network and was attended by over 30 interested individuals. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the course of the next reporting period, LURN plans to: ? Increase outreach efforts to integrate an additional 11 stores in the COMPRA Foods cooperative Conduct more research in preparation for launching more components of the web based platform that can help streamline orders and deliveries? For example, the pound report and evaluating our impact through the number of pounds we sell. Offer more technical assistance and business coaching to more member stores to increase their sales and to increase COMPRA Foods' overall impact in food desert communities Continue to track the impact of delivery fee/cooperative model in COMPRA Foods' financials, using the business plan and sustainability plan Establish new relationships with distributors and snack purveyors to diversify COMPRA Foods' sources of produce and healthy snacks.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
COMPRA Foods is a purchasing cooperative that creates an alternative food distribution system for underserved small markets and convenience stores in "food desert" neighborhoods in LA. There is currently a debilitating service gap in the food system in these communities, with no major grocery stores in many low-income communities, families are required to buy food at the elevated costs found at these small markets. This economic system is perpetuating the public health crisis in low-income communities where people are facing record rates of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. To address this issue, COMPRA Foods has organized 20 stores located in grocery store-poor, low-income, food desert communities into a purchasing cooperative. LURN collects orders of fresh produce from member stores, purchases items in bulk from several distribution partners, and delivers products weekly, with the help of APIFM, who recently changed their name to Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement (APIFM). Member stores are also offered technical and marketing assistance via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council's, as well as business coaching strategies to help sustain their businesses and ensure that they maintain healthy sales of produce in their stores. The COMPRA Foods team hopes that these successes will continue and that LURN can further glean important lessons in order to create a sustainable and scalable purchasing cooperatives model to be implemented across food deserts nationwide. 1. Recruit small food retailers to participate in COMPRA Foods using a "street" team hired from the target community. The team is working to maintain the existing group of organizers to minimize frequent trainings and to establish consistency in the organizing strategy. One organizer who has been with the initiative for over six months is leading an effort to develop an outreach memo that summarized why certain stores sign up for COMPRA Foods and why others do not. The learnings from this memo will be implemented moving forward. a. The outreach team has retained 13 existing stores and recruited an additional 7 stores to join COMPRA Foods' membership cooperative totaling 20 businesses to date, meeting our 20 member expectation by year two. 2. Establish working relationships with growers, large distributors, and wholesalers. a. LURN and LAFPC maintain a working relationships with 4Earth Farms, local healthy produce distributor, Heath & Lejeune (H&L) organic produce distributor and cold storage facility, and local growers part of program partner APIFM "Roots CSA: Grounded in Community." The team is still experimenting with wholesale snack purveyors who can help incorporate healthy snacks into COMPRA Foods' offerings. The team has developed a nutritional chart that assists in choosing the healthiest snacks. b. The COMPRA Foods team has begun exploring relationships and partnerships with various food businesses for the purpose of expanding COMPRA's healthy food offerings, including snack vendors to secure better prices and healthier options available for local communities. c. 4Earth Farms is supportive of COMPRA Foods' mission and works with the COMPRA Foods staff weekly on produce availability, fresher alternatives, and has been flexible with our smaller than average orders (compared to what big-box grocery stores would order). H&L has offered COMPRA Foods storage and prep space well below market-rate, based on their understanding and support of COMPRA's mission. APIFM is a program partner and are indeed cognizant of COMPRA Foods' mission. 3. Develop an effective ordering and distribution system for participating food retailers. a. LURN has launched a web-based application that helps to aggregate sales data been collecting data on the best web-based application that can help aggregate pricing data and can receive orders from participating members. We hope to launch a beta program next year. b. LURN is currently assessing, through observations and informal conversations, the capacities of participating stores to determine what features and level of sophistication a potential order and tracking system must include to be feasible for participating stores. Additionally, we are also assessing through observations every store's current internet access and access to technological equipment, as they are important factors in this future web-based application. c. We hope that by 2018 we will have a program up and running. 4. Establish a network of technical assistance providers to support participating retailers. a. LURN will develop a database of technical assistance providers who can offer services/support to members of COMRPA Foods. These services will include: i. Marketing Assistance LURN has assisted 20 stores with marketing support thus far, examples include: signage and produce display support, product placement, as well as branding and advertising assistance. Additionally, we have promoted all stores through our network of partner community organizations. ii. Accounting support LURN has assisted 20 stores with accounting support thus far, examples include helping stores navigate the price points during bulk ordering, and also determining the appropriate prices at which to sell COMPRA products. iii. Inventory management consulting LURN has assisted 20 stores with accounting support thus far, examples include product placement assistance and helping storeowners determine appropriate locations for healthy produce and healthy snacks iv. Product procurement assistance LURN has assisted 20 stores with product procurement assistance thus far, examples include helping storeowners select the produce that is best according to season, freshness, availability and customer desires. v. Business plan development COMPRA Foods continues to work with 5 stores with business plan development, one store receives periodic assistance in realizing her business plan by combining once separated bakery and supermarket areas, forming a single business and one-stop shop that offers multiple products including healthy smoothies, baked goods and healthy produce. Another store has implemented merchandising and floor plan recommendations based on updated business goals which focus more on selling healthier products. And three stores are looking to improve and expand their produce section with consistent refrigeration and updated branding strategy. vi. Referrals to loans and other capital-related resources LURN has distributed loans to two storeowners located in the Promise Zone, one additional store owner in South LA has also taken out a loan from LURN. b. Thus far LURN has offered technical assistance to 20 member stores total. We believe that this assistance and coaching makes COMPRA Foods stand out as a unique program that takes a holistic approach to assisting entrepreneurs and small business owners in low-income communities. These stores need more than just an injection of healthy food, they need the assistance and coaching to help maintain these new offerings and to make sure sales are maintained and even increase. 5. Design a comprehensive sustainability plan for COMPRA Foods that does not require philanthropic support. a. LURN has been referencing COMPRA Foods' business plan that was created to help determine sustainability goals and opportunities for growth. LURN implemented an affordable delivery fee, which consists of orders below $30 constitute a 15% delivery fee, and orders above $30 dollars have a flat fee of $5 per delivery. This is to help offset programmatic costs and to encourage those storeowners who purchase small amounts to remain active in the program.
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The Target audience reached by our efforts during this reporting period are: 13 small stores in the Promise zone that have been equipped with COMPRA produce delivery weekly and one-on-one assistance services, and are now member stores in the COMPRA Foods program; 100% of these storeowners or store operators are minorities 3 produce wholesalers including 4Earth Farms, Heath & Lejeune APIOPA's: Roots CSA, with whom COMPRA Foods has brokered relationships with; and We estimate that we've reached 50,000-70,000 residents in low-income grocery store-poor communities. From our surveys of member stores we've gathered data that approximates 100 patrons per store, per day, our estimates assumes that anywhere between 50,000 and 70,000 local residents have encountered the COMPRA Foods program over the past year. The majority of store patrons/local residents are in an LMI/economically disadvantage income bracket. ? Efforts from this reporting period include: Hiring 8 outreach workers, who are in the field and informing community members about COMPRA Foods and bringing in new, interested storeowners and store operators from the Promise Zone and from other food desert communities. Offering one-on-one technical assistance including marketing assistance, inventory management consulting, product procurement assistance, business plan development, marketing workshops hosted by LAFPC, referrals to loans and other capital-related resources to 13 member stores; and The creation of a comprehensive COMPRA Foods Business Plan, that outlines current and forecasted profit and loss statements; current and future objectives; sustainability and efficiency goals. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Below are some examples of training and professional development that has been provided by COMPRA Foods, via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council: Field Trip & Learning Tour at Alba Snacks & Services - A group of storeowners and some community members followed Alba owner Nelson Garcia and a few retail consultants through the store for a tour & quick history of Alba market's transformation. Presentations on healthy food marketing and branding, community partnerships/organizing healthy food demand, and procurement strategies. Storeowner attendees identified a few individualized action steps for healthy changes. Learning Tour of Northgate González Market - A diverse community of nonprofit, government, industry, and neighborhood groups came together to learn and connect with corner store owners and entrepreneurs at this healthy food business seminar. The Business of Neighborhood Markets - This was a roundtable event hosted by LURN and the Los Angeles Food Policy Council in partnership with scholars and practitioners on "market makeovers" of small corner stores. The team shared key learnings with important community constituents and member storeowners to continue to promote the good work of COMPRA and share important lessons. Community Health, Nutrition, & You - A group workshop, where storeowners provided suggestions on healthy snack ideas for their establishments such as fresh cut fruits and vegetables. 4th Annual HEALTHY FOODS, HEALTHY BUSINESSES Conference - Store owners, vendors, resource providers, and other food retailers will gather together for an ALL DAY training to learn how to grow and manage their healthy food retail business. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Customers who patron existing COMPRA member stores are surveyed every 3-4 months. They are also informed about the work of COMPRA, and how our program delivers fresh and affordable produce to their local stores. We also aim to introduce the cooperative model active in their community, with hopes to enhance public understanding of lack of fresh produce in their community and also how purchasing cooperatives can mitigate food desert issues. Additionally, our close partnerships with community-based organizations is also a mechanism from which we are able to reach their membership base and inform them of the work of COMPRA in their community. Recently, LURN has made several presentations throughout California on COMPRA Foods and its objectives and model: Social Enterprise Challenge - In March of 2016, LURN participated in the Southern California Social Entrepreneurship Venture Challenge. We pitched COMPRA Foods to a group of business professionals, for funding consideration and to receive program critiques and sustainability recommendations. Social Enterprise Board - In April of 2016, LURN presented on COMPRA Foods before an audience of social enterprise enthusiasts, organized by the Social Enterprise Alliance. Pomona Event - In May of 2016, LURN presented on COMPRA Foods to a group of small business professionals in Pomona, CA. This event was organized by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and was designed to provide startup businesses with lessons and examples on running social enterprises. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the course of the next reporting period, LURN plans to: Conduct more research in preparation for launching the web based platform for COMPRA Increase outreach efforts to integrate another 10 stores in the COMPRA Foods cooperative Offer more technical assistance and business coaching to more member stores to increase their sales and to increase COMPRA's overall impact in food desert communities Track the impact of delivery fee/cooperative model in COMPRA's financials, using the business plan and sustainability plan
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Community Markets Purchasing Real and Affordable Foods (COMPRA Foods) is a purchasing cooperative that creates an alternative food distribution system for underserved small markets and convenience stores in "food desert" neighborhoods in Los Angeles. There is currently a debilitating service gap in the food system in these communities, where small food retailers source their food products from "big-box" grocery stores, paying full price and marking them up for sale in their own establishments. Since there are no major grocery stores in many low-income communities, families are required to buy food at the elevated costs found at these small markets. This economic system is perpetuating the public health crisis in low-income communities where people are facing record rates of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. To address this issue, COMPRA Foods has organized 13 store located in grocery store-poor, low-income, food desert communities into a purchasing cooperative. LURN collects orders of fresh produce from member stores, purchases items in bulk from a distribution partner, and delivers products weekly, with the help of APIOPA. Member stores are also offered technical and marketing assistance via The Los Angeles Food Policy Council's, as well as business coaching strategies to help sustain their businesses and ensure that they maintain healthy sales of produce in their stores. Already, 100% of all stores have stated that COMPRA's prices and quality of produce are just as good, if not better, than their previously available options, and 75% of stores are reporting increases in produce sales as a direct result of working with COMPRA Foods. The COMPRA Foods team hopes that these successes will continue and that LURN can further glean important lessons in order to create a sustainable and scalable purchasing cooperatives model to be implemented across food deserts nationwide. Project Objectives A team of community-based organizers have been hired and trained, and have conducted outreach services throughout the Promise Zone and in other food desert communities throughout Los Angeles. The outreach team helped recruit 13 stores to join COMPRA Foods' membership cooperative to date, exceeding our 10 member expectation by year one. Establish working relationships with growers, large distributors, and wholesalers. LURN and LAFPC have expanded their working relationship with 4Earth Farms, a local healthy produce distributor. In addition to 4Earth Farms, COMPRA Foods has also partnered with organic produce distributor, Heath & Lejeune (H&L). This partnership has resulted in H&L providing storage and prep space for current COMPRA operations and will lead to produce transactions in the near future. COMPRA Foods has also begun purchasing produce directly from local growers who are part of APIOPA's "Roots CSA: Grounded in Community." The team is still working on brokering relationships with wholesale snack purveyors who can help incorporate healthy snacks into COMPRA Foods' offerings. The COMPRA Foods team has begun exploring relationships and partnerships with various food businesses for the purpose of expanding COMPRA's healthy food offerings. One such business is "With Love Market," a health foods market in South Los Angeles. A potential partnership with "With Love" may result in COMPRA Foods distributing healthy, local snacks in addition to produce. 4Earth Farms is supportive of COMPRA Foods' mission and works with the COMPRA Foods staff weekly on produce availability, fresher alternatives, and has been flexible with our smaller than average orders (compared to what big-box grocery stores would order). H&L has offered COMPRA Foods storage and prep space well below market-rate, based on their understanding and support of COMPRA's mission. Develop an effective ordering and distribution system for participating food retailers. LURN has been collecting data on the best web-based application that can help aggregate pricing data and can receive orders from participating members. We hope to launch a beta program next year. LURN is currently assessing, through observations and informal conversations, the capacities of participating stores to determine what features and level of sophistication a potential order and tracking system must include to be feasible for participating stores. Additionally, we are also assessing through observations every store's current internet access and access to technological equipment, as they are important factors in this future web-based application. We hope that by 2017 we will have a program up and running. Establish a network of technical assistance providers to support participating retailers. LURN will develop a database of technical assistance providers who can offer services/support to members of COMRPA Foods. These services will include: LURN has assisted 13 stores with marketing support thus far, examples include: signage and produce display support, product placement, as well as branding and advertising assistance. Additionally, we have promoted all stores through our network of partner community organizations. LURN has assisted 13 stores with accounting support thus far, examples include helping stores navigate the price points during bulk ordering, and also determining the appropriate prices at which to sell COMPRA products. LURN has assisted 13 stores with inventory management consulting thus far, examples include product placement assistance and helping storeowners determine appropriate locations for healthy produce and healthy snacks. LURN has assisted 13 stores with product procurement assistance thus far, examples include helping storeowners select the produce that is best according to season, freshness, availability and customer desires. LURN has assisted 5 stores with business plan development thus far, for example one store has received assistance in realizing her business plan by combining once separated bakery and supermarket areas, forming a single business and one-stop shop that offers multiple products including healthy smoothies, baked goods and healthy produce. Another store has implemented merchandising and floor plan recommendations based on updated business goals which focus more on selling healthier products. LURN has added two interested stores to its micro-financing pipeline, with the hopes of integrating these entrepreneurs into our micro-loan and micro-equity programs. One member store is interested in expanding his corner store to include an area that can offer fresh cut produce as a healthy snack alternative for customers. Thus far LURN has offered technical assistance to 13 member stores total. We believe that this assistance and coaching makes COMPRA Foods stand out as a unique program that takes a holistic approach to assisting entrepreneurs and small business owners in low-income communities. These stores need more than just an injection of healthy food, they need the assistance and coaching to help maintain these new offerings and to make sure sales are maintained and even increase. 75% of stores have increased their sales, 100% of all member stores have stated that COMPRA's prices and quality of produce are just as good, if not better, than any previously available options. Design a comprehensive sustainability plan for COMPRA Foods that does not require philanthropic support. LURN was able to create a comprehensive business plan for COMPRA Foods to help determine sustainability goals and opportunities for growth. Over the past year LURN has conducted multiple surveys with member stores to understand the best fee structure that would incentivize more members while also maintaining important revenue for the cooperative. Recently, COMPRA Foods implemented an affordable delivery fee of $5 per delivery in order to help offset programmatic costs.
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