Food co-op project seeks owners for new grocery store in Vallejo or Benicia

VALLEJO — Over the last seven years, a group of Vallejo and Benicia residents have been slowly gathering support to build a thriving, full service, natural grocery store in the area that is owned by its customers. 

The Cultivate Community Food Co-op (CCFC) currently has 564 founding owners, each of whom has paid $300 to become one, but it needs to reach 1,200 owners before the store can open. “That is to get the community’s buy-in, so everybody knows about it and we can be profitable from the beginning,” said Paula Schnese, CCFC’s President and co-Treasurer, during a recent town hall that took place at the John F. Kennedy Library in Vallejo.

Schnese started the project in 2016. She was a professional photographer in Berkeley who moved to Benicia in 2013, where she found the options for local, healthy food choices lacking. Schnese, who also works as an account manager at her husband’s law firm, began organizing to create a new co-op grocery store. CCFC incorporated in 2017.

CCFC’s goal is to build a business owned and run by its members. Collectively, the owners decide what to stock. Co-ops prioritize fresh, locally sourced, and sustainable food, create jobs, and the project’s backers argue it will strengthen the local economy, since it sources their products from local farms and vendors. But it could be years longer before CCFC can open.

“You have to sell the dream,” said Schnese, adding that, “What’s going on? Where’s the co-op?” is the first question she gets from the community. She understands the impatience but wants people to know that they are working diligently on it. In 2024, she said the project’s board of directors focused on governance, policies and charters, as well as community outreach.

The long wait isn’t unusual for this kind of project. According to JQ Hannah, Assistant Director of Food Co-op Initiative, a nonprofit located in Minnesota which supports aspiring food co-ops around the country like CCFC, the average number of years for a food co-op to open before the Covid-19 pandemic was five. Today, the average has shot up to nine years. For Detroit People’s Food Co-op, the latest co-op to open, the process took 14 years.

Liliana Agredano, Marketing Manager of the Davis Food Co-op and a guest speaker during the town hall, explained that creating a food co-op takes a lot of effort in community synchronization. Their co-op started in 1972 as a buying club in a living room. Today it has over 8,000 members, but it went through a lot of ups and downs. Nowadays food co-ops don’t start small, so they improve their chances of success and stability. 

“It’s really important to understand the phases of our timeline because our work as a co-op is focused on ROII: return on investment and impact,” said CCFC board member R. Shay Miles, an entrepreneur who joined the project in 2023. “We are not just a big grocery store that is focused on money. We’re more focused on meaning and making sure that it’s meaningful to the community and that everyone that is involved is prosperous and that even if you’re not a voter [owner] you will find value.”

The next goal for CCFC is to reach 800 owners. At that point, the board will do a market study to identify the location for the co-op within Benicia or Vallejo. “We’ve been told that we need an 8,000 to 10,000 square foot store, based on our population,” Schnese said.

Vallejo and Benicia have only two chain grocery stores, but the profits don’t stay in the area. “We like to say that when you see a Safeway delivery truck come up, they are leaving with the money,” said Agredano. 

Food co-ops source their groceries from local farms and vendors, so they strengthen the local economy. Once they are profitable, they often invest part of the profits in helping the community. Davis Food Co-Op, which is a mentor and model for CCFC, has a community discount for anybody who is experiencing food insecurity or is lower income, as well as for students. They also donate food to a local food bank and have a freezer out by the store from which people suffering from food scarcity can pick up the food they need. 

The initial fee of $300 can seem steep to some prospective store owners, but it can be paid in $25 installments. For someone who doesn’t have the money but is interested in CCFC, there are many opportunities to help. Vallejo Planning Commissioner Tara Beasley-Stansberry, who moderated the town hall, emphasized that donating time is even more valuable than donating money. Volunteers can contribute in different areas, from outreach and marketing to graphic design or vendor contacts, among other possibilities.

 “When CCFC reaches 1,000 owners we’ll start our capital campaign, which includes investment opportunities for our owners,” Schnese said. “This includes private loans to CCFC, offering a higher interest rate than what is typically available through commercial banks.”

Further investments beyond the initial $300 fee to become an owner are not required. At this stage in the co-op's development, the state of California limits individual share purchases to $1,000 per person, which equates to 3.3 shares in CCFC but owners will be able to purchase more shares once financial filings are complete.

However, no matter how many shares an owner has bought, they will still only have one vote.

CCFC is also seeking grant opportunities and will apply for loans from credit unions or other financial institutions once it’s closer to opening.

“Cooperatives start when the community needs are not being met,” Schnese said. “When you become a founding owner of Cultivate Community Food Co-op you’re making sure the store opens and you’re investing in your future.”