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Triple Bottom Line:

If you’re new to Honest Weight, you might be wondering what makes us different from any other grocery store. There are lots of things, but probably the biggest is that we’re a community-owned co-op!

Of the three words in our mission state ment–the list that can spark the most ambivalence in our socially minded customer base. Sure, it’s good to serve people and invest in environmental sustainability. But how does profit align with the other pillars of Honest Weight? Where does the everyday consumer or member-owner fit into the economic structure of the Co-op?

To answer these questions, we need to understand Honest Weight’s structure as a community-owned cooperative . This is the term for a special kind of business organization. What makes the business “special” is its ownership and benefits structure. Honest Weight is voluntarily owned by the people who use it (i.e. the everyday consumers of the Capital region) and it exists for the benefit of members (i.e. the 10,533 current members who currently have a share in Honest Weight).

There are other kinds of co-ops, too. Producer-owned cooperatives put power in the hands of the producers of agricultural and commodity goods, who band together to share risks and gains, and to negotiate for fairer prices on the market. Worker-owned cooperatives–which can exist in any industry–are owned, managed, and operated for the direct benefit of workers themselves.

One difference between a cooperative and a more traditional business is that, in the former case, budgeting processes tend to be more transparent and participatory. Honest Weight publishes an open breakdown of

Salad, Hot Bar, and Cafe are Back, with

Just follow these simple steps:

• Locate the collection bins near our bike lockers

• Only place clear, clean glass in the bins

• Make sure to remove both the lids and little plastic rings (labels are ok) away with more questions than answers. This is by design! The best way to live up to our values is to continually reflect on what more they might require of us, and how we might do a better job of “walking our talk.”