We had 208 members order 1,889 different items this cycle. Total purchases were about $11,500, which is right at where we were with last year’s same cycle sales.
Flat sales is not what we want. We’ve had good cycles in the last few months, and we’re trying things like bringing on producers with prepared foods, plus buying and selling asparagus when we had none from our current growers. We’ve also reworked our emails to members include more information, such as recipes that use products from multiple producers.
But the reality is summertime sales tend to be lower than the rest of the year, which happens in part because many IFC members have home gardens, but also because there’s more options to buy local, like farmers’ markets.
Anyway, we’ll have your products ready for you to come pick up this week during our distributions. Here’s some instructions:
1. If you are picking up at Franklin Plaza, be sure to check out products available for purchase in our Retail Center. There are lots of good stuff you can add to your online orders.
2. Specifics on times and locations for all our sites are available with this link and to the left.
NOTE: IF YOU ARRIVE BEFORE THE SCHEDULED START TIME, OUR VOLUNTEERS WON’T BE READY. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND BE PATIENT.
3. Our alternative pick up time will be from 10:30 to noon on Saturday, June 24. If we don’t see you Thursday, we’ll assume you are coming Saturday.
4. We accept EBT cards for payment ONLY AT OUR Franklin Plaza site. If you are an EBT member and are picking up at another location, please send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop so we can arrange for processing your payment
5. It’s a good idea to check to be sure your pick-up site is correct. You can access your invoice by logging in, going to the shopping tab, and click “view in-process invoice”. If it’s not right, send an email to distribution@iowafood.coop.