From the Board President

From the Director’s Seat: On Boxes, Bubbles and BriarPatch By Alan Weisberg, Board President BRIARPATCH FOOD CO-OP

In what ways is “co-op” thinking and acting “outside the box” during this time of challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic? When I search for an example of a response that truly worked, I immediately go to the National Basketball Association’s successful 2020 season. The NBA created a whole new box within a “bubble” in Florida hotels and near-empty arenas. The hundreds of players, their support staff, some friends, medical and logistics experts and TV crews all obeyed a set of stringent rules and behaviors aimed at protecting everyone from infection. It worked! No infections. And, another great performance by LeBron James gave the Lakers the championship.

It didn’t hurt to have the NBA’s endless resources, including $150 million spent on safety measures like outrageously expensive and very frequent virus testing. Pulling this off required team owners to work “co-operatively” with the players, including last-minute negotiations resulting in new national attention and consciousness regarding racial justice. Now back to Earth. While BriarPatch does not have endless resources, we are fortunate to have a great staff and loyal shoppers, and the resources to not just stay afloat as a grocery store, but also to continue meeting our mission of community service. Check out recent photos of our staff making flash visits to first responders, medical people, hospice, food banks and others with a breakfast or burrito lunch for these community heroes.

BriarPatch, as a cooperative, exists in its own bubble, one created by our unique mission and governance. And since food is an essential service, during COVID-19 we have been able to sustain strong sales by stepping up quickly to the need for new customer safety measures, re-inventing many aspects of our deli to respond to greater demand for take-out food and creating a curbside pickup program that will almost certainly outlive the current pandemic.

Many aspects of our business have been forced to find innovative solutions to respond to the new circumstances during a pandemic. I find some of the most exciting ones are those that positively affect our profitability while also focusing on goals for greatly reducing reliance on fossil fuels. We recently invested in new, energy-efficient refrigeration units throughout the store. Also, we created and filled a new staff position dedicated to all forms of environmental sustainability.

The Board is particularly excited that, in the middle of the COVID-19 impact, we continue and refine our support of many local non-profits. One great example of an out-of-the box action was to donate a significant portion of our profits from what might be considered panic buying at the onset of the pandemic to a countywide fund for small businesses and non-profits. BriarPatch has also stepped up to respond to the Black Lives Matter national concern through some targeted grants to a number of Oakland-based organizations that focus on food justice.

A year ago, the Board announced a policy aimed at achieving growth through opening additional stores. Friends have asked me, “are you still planning on this during this time of uncertainty?” The answer is a resounding yes. The past six months have proven our resiliency; we are all-in when it comes to expanding the reach of co-operative businesses.