Retail Food Initiative Jesi Dunaway, Nikki Lennart, Andrea Guillot & Heather Bell

1. Retail Food InitiativeJesi Dunaway, Nikki Lennart, Andrea Guillot & Heather Bell

2. There is a direct connection between food intake and health. Diet-related diseases have reached an epidemic level in the United States, especially among minority and low-income groups. An important factor in diet among low-income groups is available food retailers; these areas often have an abundance of fast food restaurants, small corner stores, and bodegas.

4. Many store owners recognize the connection between their food offerings and the health problems in their neighborhoods but feel powerless to change the situation. Fresh produce must be either sold immediately or refrigerated; store owners often have neither the money nor the space for appropriate refrigerators. Some store owners have tried to offer produce, but found that customers did not buy it.

5. "The Boston Collaborative for Food & Fitness (BCFF) brings together community-based and citywide organizations to focus on meeting the needs of Boston’s low-income neighborhoods for access to healthy food.  Of their partners, the Boston Strategic Alliance for Health (SAH) is working in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) on strategies for small retail markets in Mattapan and East Boston to offer healthier options.  The SAH has developed a four-year initiative to achieve the goal of increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables in these communities.”

6. The Landscape of East Boston • 39% of residents are Latino (highest Latino population of all Boston neighborhoods) • 20% of population below poverty level • 25% of that amount consists of children under age 18; another 20% represents adults 65 and over • 55% of East Boston residents are obese, compared to 46% overall in Boston • 68% East Boston residents get inadequate levels of physical activity Source: BPHC Health Status Report for E. Boston, 2005

7. Goals of the Retail Store Initiative • Improve healthy food access through corner stores • Technical assistance in implementing and maintaining fresh produce sales systems • Financial and other aid to enable necessary store improvements and upkeep

8. Barriers store owners face to increase sales of produce • Perception that customers will not buy healthy foods • Concern that fresh and healthy foods are not profitable. • Sourcing challenges.

9. Shifting distribution patterns to healthy food • Identified as one of the top areas for needed technical assistance by store owners • Small retailers face economy-of-scale problem and cannot compete with large-scale supermarket prices • Our goal: develop a sustainable system for distributing high-quality, affordable fresh produce to corner stores in East Boston.

10. Possibilities • Self pick-up from local produce terminal. • Deliveries from a wholesale produce distributor. • Create a food‐purchasing cooperative with other corner stores. • Cooperative buying with schools, restaurants, or other large purchasers. • Direct purchasing from a nearby grower. • CSA • Farmers’ markets

11. Questionnaire for potential distributors • What is the least number of stores you can distribute fruits and vegetables at once? In a week? • Do you distribute certain kinds of fruits and vegetables? • Would you provide technical assistance to those stores who require assistance? • How many times a week would a particular store be able to order fruits and vegetables? • What is the cost of distribution?  Is it based on miles traveled or per number of dollars spent? • What days and times of the week do you distribute produce?

12. Main players: Distributors/Sources for fresh produce in Boston Boston Organics • Potentially interested in what ways, if any, Boston Organics might be involved. • Would be flexible in terms of specific orders to deliver to stores. • Company currently delivers to East Boston, but not to Mattapan • Would be open to Mattapan delivery if a few stores were involved and perhaps a drop-off point could be found.

13. Main players: Distributors/Sources for fresh produce in Boston Produce Company of New England • Expressed interest in working with the cornerstores; has worked with Store 24/Tedeschi. • Minimum order is $150, but is “flexible” for the project • Company has a suite of trucks that can deliver, but picking up (in Fitchburg) would be cheaper • Potential to coordinate with Somerville public schools that already receive deliveries

14. Potential Distribution Models Source Delivery point Cornerstore Representative Cornerstore Cornerstore Cornerstore Cornerstore Boston Organics, Produce Company of New England

15. Main players: Distributors/Sources for fresh produce in Boston Baldor Foods • No minimum # of stores required for delivery agreement (would deliver to one store) • Order and delivery available 6 days a week ($75 minimum order) • Would provide technical assistance to stores that require it

16. Potential Distribution Models Baldor Foods Main Delivery point Cornerstore Representative Cornerstore Cornerstore Cornerstore Cornerstore • Baldor Foods

17. Main players: Distributors/Sources for fresh produce in Boston Chelsea Market • Collection of wholesale fruit and vegetable vendors in Chelsea, MA • Opens early A.M. to sell to restaurants, other food purveyors

18. Potential Distribution Models Chelsea Market Cornerstore Representative Cornerstore Cornerstore Cornerstore Cornerstore • Chelsea Market

19. Main players: Distributors/Sources for fresh produce in Boston Red Tomato • The process: Red Tomato calls buyer; buyer orders produce; Red Tomato buys the produce from the grower and sells it back to the buyer. • Decisions on whether to work with small stores based on amount of interest and potential for relationships (logistics of making smaller deliveries feasible) • No order minimum; very small orders usually handled by a third party or by directly connecting buyer and grower • Charges 10% margin on direct purchases from retailers

20. Process • Scope of work defined in February--working as the sourcing and distribution subcommittee of the SAH’s corner store initiative • Regularly scheduled (830 a.m.!) meetings • Attendance and presentations at monthly SAH working group meetings

21. Takeaways • Opportunity to work with a public health organization to source healthier foods in local corner stores. • Attendance at the monthly SAH meetings was a good opportunity to see how a complex, collaborative organization works and to see the benefits of collaboration. • SAH is well structured and could be used as model for other neighborhoods.

22. Challenges/Next Steps • Based on where the SAH was in their planning stage, our project remained abstract and we could only go so far in researching specific models and opportunities for sourcing. • A next step would be to expand the scope of our work once key details are worked out (how many stores are involved, their produce needs etc.).