John Crane, General Manager of Award WinningPortland Co-op, 290 Congressd Street. John Has Been at the Co-op since 2015 and is From Ellsworth.
Portland Food Co-op is one of five local businesses to be honored by the City of Portland on Wednesday, November 15, at Ocean Gateway, 14 Ocean Gateway Pier from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the awards given by the City of Portland and the Portland Development Corporation (PDC). This event marks the end of a four year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic.
Last year, the Co-op purchased $2.1 million worth of food and other goods from Maine businesses including over $1 million directly from Maine family farms. The Co-op is an economic engine for the local food economy. The Co-ops Register Round-Up program raises over $40 thousand per year to support local nonprofits.
“The Portland Food Co-op was incorporated in 2008 and operated for many years as a buying club that focused on local foods. The original buying club operated inside numerous donated, spaces, the last one at Tallly’s warehouse at 56 Hampshire Street. In 2011, the member-owners of the cooperative, decided to open a public facing retail store,” according to John Crane, General Manager of the Co-op.
Crane continued: “We opened our store at 290 Congress Street in the fall of 2014. We are now open to the public and anyone is welcome to shop here. Anyone is also welcome to become a member-owner purchasing one share at the co-op. A share is $100. payable at once or in four quarterly payments of $25. While new businesses struggle in their first few years, the co-op reached profitability in 2018. By 2021, we reached a level of profitability where we were able to distribute a dividend to our member-owners. With over 6,800 current member-owners and over $7.2 million in current annual sales, we are actually planning on how we can achieve more impact and be an even greater benefit to our local economy and community,” said Crane in an email to this blogger.
Other city award winners are: Childrens’ Museum & Theatre of Maine; Bissell Brothers Brewing, Bangs Island Mussels and Intermed.