Dear Owners,

2024 was a year of stabilization and activation at the Lexington Co-op after the major changes of 2023 that included a new leadership team, unionization of our hourly workers, and bargaining our first contract with Workers United. The high inflation on food at home prices we experienced in 2023 stabilized and started to drop in 2024. While our HR team worked to set up systems necessary for the new union contract, marketing and category management focused on growing sales and expanding partnerships, with excellent results beginning in January 2024. 

Our stated goal for the last several years has been to build a strong local food system. We have three long term strategies for delivering this goal:

A thriving co-op in every community that wants one.

Deliver exceptional experiences to customers, vendors and staff.

Help customers, vendors and staff make sustainable choices.

Entering 2025, creating great experiences for our consumer-owners continues to be a high priority. In 2024 we expanded the hours of our hot bar and salad bar and empowered our cooks to come up with fun recipes and plans each week. The hot bar was a key driver that contributed to increased customer counts and the strong sales growth of the second half of the year. Projects planned for 2025 include introducing bulk fruits in bins, improving recipes, celebrating heritage months and seeking to be the place to buy your center table holiday proteins, whether vegetarian or carnivore.

2024 was our first year as a union Co-op. We focused heavily on updating our policies, expectations and management to align with the contract. We contracted with co-op consultants, Columinate to perform a comprehensive staff survey that allows us to compare results with other co-ops, and we started investing in management training for all supervisors and managers. The results of the staff survey feature prominently in our 2025 plans to upgrade our employee on-boarding and training and to invest in effective, consistent, supportive management systems. 

As we ended 2023, we were frustrated by two years of declines in purchases from local farmers & producers. We set a big audacious goal of increasing local purchases 17% to over $3M in 2024. Our team worked hard this year, bringing in new vendors like Nikki’s chocolates, Cake Crazy and Public Espresso donuts, and making it a priority to never run out of locally produced items. We ended the year with 21% growth in purchases from local farmers to $3.1 million! This is the economic power of the Co-op! 

Lexington continued to invest in and leverage its relationships with owners and the community in 2024. New partnerships included an East Side Free Farmers Market, Fair Trade America, who is sponsoring our new mural at Hertel, and several first time Change for Change recipients. A year after the Double Up Food Bucks program changed from 50% off to an earn and redeem model, participation dropped from $100,000 to $60,000. To turn this around, and increase awareness and accessibility to the program, the Co-op has contracted with an instructional designer, who is, of course, an owner, and who is helping us to simplify communications on the Double Up Food Bucks program for EBT shoppers as well as training for cashiers.

The Change for Change program also raised over $100,000 for local non-profits. Strengthening relationships with our community partners will continue to be a high priority part of our plan in 2025. Our mission is to build a strong local food system and a thriving co-op economy, and we can only do this working together as a network.

As we head into 2025, we are excited for the recent sales growth and are motivated to continue improving the Co-op as a values-driven resource for customers, workers and local farmers & producers.  Thank you for all you do to support and build this thriving community resource!

We hope you join us on October 19 to celebrate with us. RSVP Here.

In Cooperation,

Tim Bartlett