The owner-member survey results are in! Thank you to all who filled out the survey, online and on paper. This information is invaluable to the VFC managers, staff, and board of directors. The results of the owner survey will help guide the staff and board in their decision making for the future. The complete survey results are online here.
Here are some statistics to get us started:
As of the end date of the survey, we had 2650 owner-members. A return of 9 to 12% is the average for any given survey. 353 owners responded to the survey, a return of 13%.
Results show that 99.9% of respondents are satisfied with VFC, with 52% “extremely satisfied.” Kudos to the staff for creating a great store, and thanks to all of our owners and the general community for giving us such great support in our efforts to bring the best quality food to all of our tables.
What else can we glean from the numbers in this survey? The survey reports that the top factors owners consider when deciding where to shop are 1) the quality/freshness of the products, 2) the availability of organic and 3) local food, and 4) product selection and variety. This information is consistent with VFC’s mission which states, “We emphasize selling organic and local foods and products to promote the long-term health of individuals and the environment.”
Fifth on the list of factors respondents consider when choosing where to shop is price. 68% of survey respondents rated VFC’s prices as somewhat good, good, or very good.
Pricing product in any store is a balance between maintaining the needs of the store (creating a great working environment, wages and benefits, offering services to the owners and greater community, paying all of the bills, etc…) and making sure our shoppers have access to the best quality food possible.
How does the VFC do this? Our buyers focus as much as they can on local markets to support our local economy and keep freight charges from inflating store prices. The National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) helps Co-op owners like us broker deals with national distributors so our buyers can get products into the store at lower prices than these distributors give to independent grocers and natural food stores. The VFC has biweekly Co+op Deals on our most popular items throughout the store. And don’t forget, owners also enjoy a discount on any shopping spree 12 times a year.
Food costs money; good food costs more money. The reality of the grocery business today is that organic costs more, quality costs more, and until some major shifts are made in many different sectors of our global society, quality food will continue to cost more than its lower quality, non-organic counterpart. The VFC staff is always working to keep prices fair for our membership and the larger community.