ABOUT OUR CO-OP

Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op was incorporated in 1976. By serving the needs of our diverse membership, we have grown through the years. Our current store has more than 7,300 square feet of space, and we serve several hundred members each day.

To the casual visitor, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op is simply a retail store that specializes in natural foods, supplements and related items. However, at a fundamental level, we are very different from profit-oriented enterprises.

Owned by Our Members

Like the thousands of other cooperatives around the world, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op is owned by its members. Currently, the co-op has more than 4,100 members. The members can vote not only with their dollars, as in a regular store, but also with their ballots. The members elect a board of directors. The store's general manager reports to the board of directors. The managers are responsible for day-to-day operation of the store, with the help of roughly 60 staffers.

Anyone can become a member. While members enjoy special benefits, nonmembers are welcome to shop at the co-op.

Our Vision

We envision Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op to be the foundation of a trusted, cooperative marketplace of goods and services that provides for the needs of our diverse community.

Our Purpose

The purpose of Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op is to be a vital, thriving and growing community center that will:

• Provide and promote organically grown, sustainably produced food, goods and services that are locally and regionally sourced whenever possible.
• Promote the health and wellness of our community by providing facilities, resources and information, and by offering effective, positive community education and services.
• Embody and model sustainable, humane, equitable, "green" ways of working and living, creating and maintaining an ideal workplace.
• Add to the enjoyment and enrichment of our greater community, and the expression of our common humanity.
• Help create and participate in other cooperative community ventures and networks.
• Have fun doing it!

Our Core Values

As a cooperatively owned business, we value the cooperative principles adopted in 1995 by the International Cooperative Alliance (as shown on the sides of our shopping bags). The following values guide our actions:

• Integrity: an ethical commitment to bringing sustainability and humane practices into action.
• Quality Food and Goods: organic, natural and healthy, sustainably produced.
• Customer Service: friendly and responsive, in an inviting environment.
• Community Involvement and Leadership: mutual responsiveness that connects us with community members and inspires their involvement.
• Prosperity: financially viable, flourishing, well-managed organization that returns fair value to its members.

Our Five-Year Goals

By 2007, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op:

1. Provides an ideal workplace resulting in a dedicated and enthusiastic staff that achieves our vision and purpose.
2. Is a financially diverse and profitable full-service community marketplace in a model "green" facility with room to grow, including possible strategies for expansion and cooperative diversification.
3. Has increased community involvement in and positive community recognition of its storefronts, as measured, in part, by increasing membership and percentage of sales to members, to 70 percent of total sales.
4. Has 80 percent of food sales in organically grown food, 50 percent of which will be sustainably produced, with programs for searching out and supporting local producers of organic food and goods.