The Benalla Food Co-op is in its 14th year of operation and currently has a membership of 75 households with over 50 of them shopping regularly.
 
The committee has been very busy. The warmer weather saw an increase in oat bugs, resulting in some stock losses. Efforts to address the issue included a very well attended working bee, the introduction/replacement of bait traps and the storing of most products in plastic containers in the fridge. A chest freezer is now on the shopping list in preparation for the next warm season in the hope that we can quarantine some products when they first arrive.
 
Callum Morrison, The Public Health Coordinator, provided a Food Safety Assessment report after a visit during one of our open sessions. He raised a few items that needed addressing, including the labelling of clean and used scoop tubs and a small hole in the wall of the building. The committee promptly addressed these concerns.
 
Post-pandemic publicity for the co-op included a stall at the BRCC’s Creating Community Connections Expo, an interview on ABC local radio, an opening during the Benalla Heritage week and an article in the Ensign announcing the appointment of a new Coordinator.
 
We currently stock 127 products, many of which are chemical free and sourced from within Victoria. Our product list had a few changes with the introduction of Australian dried figs. Teabags are no longer available and we are now stocking 3 types of loose organic tea. Some of our regular and much-loved products such as dried apricots, choc hazelnuts, olive oil and more recently, plain and SR flour have been difficult to source for a variety of reasons. Thankfully, we now have a supply of olive oil and choc hazelnuts in stock. We are hoping the other products will be in stock again soon.
 
The Co-op continues to open earlier on Monday afternoons during winter due to shorter daylight hours and colder weather. This commenced in May.
 
Thank you to Claire Mathlin-Cook for her time in the co-ordinator role. She did a great job keeping on top of the many demands of the role.
​
Thank you to Wendy Baker for the overall accounting matters (see Wendy’s financial year report).​ Thank you Christine for continuing to coordinate the roster, and Peter for ongoing management of the day-to-day accounts as well as the biannual stock take. The Holmes have been a huge support to me in my new role as coordinator, having relied heavily on their knowledge and experience.
 
Thank you to Rhona for the regular email update news and for the fabulous job she did being interviewed on radio. Her promotion of the co-op directly resulted in the signing up of some new members.
 
Thank you to Graeme Greed for ongoing equipment and building maintenance.​
 
Thank you Maren and her support crew (Julienne and Marlies) for ordering and packaging the spices and herbs.
 
Thank you to Karen for her dedication as a committee member, which she resigned from late last year. She will continue supporting the co-op in her role as a computer operator.

Thank you to my husband Damien who has regularly collected products and helped unload and stack into the cupboards.
 
Thank you to Beverly Lee and Peter Maddock for maintaining our social media and BSFG website presence.
 
And finally, a special thank you to our dear friend and committee member Julie McPherson, who lost her battle with cancer in May this year. Her friendship along with her dedication and passion for the co-op over the many years she was involved, will be deeply missed.
 
Co-op Committee: Sonia (new coordinator), Christine (rosters), Peter (finance), Rhona (weekly up-dates), Judy (BSFG secretary), Tanya and Rosalie​
 
Duty managers: Graeme, Sonia, Tanya, Rosalie, Christine, Rhona, Joy, Robyn, Eleanor, Claire, Jenny Muller (new) and Theresa Carney (new)
 
iPad Operators: Peter, Karen, Glenys, Simon, Stacy, Deanne, Jenny, Julienne, Maren, Marlies, Sally and Robert, Graeme
 
Enquires/feedback welcome via the BSFG website or the Co-op email [email protected]


Sonia Burke
Benalla Food Cooperative Coordinator
​June 26 2025

We have a new coordinator for the food co-op. We are pleased to have long term committee member Sonia Bourke, take on the role. Sonia has been a dedicated member for 12 years and has an excellent knowledge of the products and how the co-op operates. To assist Sonia in her role we have delegated some areas of responsibility to others.  Sonia is centre in the above photo with two new members Teresa and Fiona.

Our membership sits at around 68. One of the first things we will be doing is further promotion to tap into members of our community who may not be aware of the unique asset we have in the Benalla community. Our main form of advertising has been through ‘word of mouth’.
Open dates for the remainder of the year are as follows – December Monday 2nd, at 4pm, Saturday 14th at 9.30am and Thursday 19th at 9.30am.

​The Benalla Food Co-op is in its 13th year of operation and currently has a membership of 68 households with over forty of them shopping regularly.
 
Our main activity has been general ongoing operational issues. Our efforts to remain vermin free have been mostly successful with minimal stock loss. Our ability to improve storage is hampered by lack of spacespace. Initially we planned to purchase an extra cupboard, however that idea changed and have bought extra shelving. A safety step is on the shopping list.

Our product list had a few changes with instant coffee becoming unavailable. We are currently trialling dried mushrooms from Markwood Mushroom and buckwheat kernels.

Our vacuum caused a few difficulties and thank you to Robyn Kelly, who kindly donated a Dyson vacuum.

​The Co-op continues to open earlier on Monday afternoons during winter due to shorter daylight hours and colder weather. This commenced in May. Our markup remains at 20%
 
Thank you Wendy Baker for the overall accounting matters (see Wendy’s financial year report).
 
Thank you Christine for continuing to coordinate the roster, and Peter for ongoing management of the day-to-day accounts as well as the biannual stock take. The Holmes duo have been tireless in their Co-op volunteering and are life members.
 
Thank you Rhona for years of email update news. I will miss our pre-news texts and chats as we collate our narration each week.
Thank you Graeme Greed for ongoing equipment maintenance.
 
Thank you Maren for ordering the spices and Julienne who helps to package the herbs. Thank you Sonia for continuing to allow her front porch to be used for deliveries.
 
Thank you Kay Blore, Karen Nankervis and Judy Schwarzman who promote recycling and empty our recycle containers.
 
Thank you to our 11 duty managers and 13 iPad operators. Jenny Monger has retired from being an iPad operator and Julie McPherson has moved from being a Duty Manager to iPad Operator. Thank you Jenny for years and years of volunteering.
 
Thank you Beverly Lee and Peter Maddock for maintaining our social media and BSFG website presence. Thank you Karen and Graham who regularly ask if there are orders to collect from Melbourne or Myrtleford and happily do so if required.
 
Thank you to my husband Richard who has unloaded the pallets of produce each month for the past 3 years and stacked it all into the cupboards.
 
In closing I would like to say how much I’ve appreciate your friendship and assistance over the last 3 years. Without your help, there would be no Co-op. I applaud Claire as she steps forward to take on the extra load and warmly wish her the very best as I step down.
 
Co-op Committee: Susanne (retiring coordinator), Claire (new coordinator), Christine (rosters), Peter (finance), Rhona (weekly up-dates), Karen (recycling), Judy (BSFG secretary), Sonia (porch for deliveries) and Julie McPherson (moving to iPad operator), Tanya and Rosalie.
 
Duty managers: Graham, Sonia, Tanya, Rosalie, Christine, Rhona, Joy, Robyn, Eleanor, Susanne (retiring) and Claire (stepping up).
 
iPad Operators: Peter, Karen, Glenys, Simon, Stacy, Deanne, Jenny, Julienne, Maren, Marlies, Sally and Robert.
 
Enquiries/feedback welcome via the BSFG website or the Co-op email [email protected]

Jenny Monger was one of the inaugural members of the food co-op. Jenny has always risen to the challenge of learning new tasks, as demonstrated when she readily took on the challenge of being one of the co-op’s computer operators.

Jenny has been most supportive of the smooth running of the co-op by often doing extra shifts. For this, Christine Holmes, who organizes our roster, has been especially grateful.

Jenny will do her last shift as computer operator on Thursday December 21.

Members will continue to see Jenny and her husband Alan shopping at the co-op.

We thank Jenny for her many years of active involvement, good ideas, diligent work and her friendship..

The Benalla Food Co-op is in its 12th year of operation and currently has 65 members with over forty households shopping regularly.

The Co-op Committee remains unchanged, and it’s been a relatively quiet year. Our main business has been general housekeeping and running issues, with our aging vacuum causing the most trouble.

This year we’re trialling earlier opening hours on Monday afternoons during winter due to shorter daylight hours and colder weather. This will commence in June.

There’s a fluctuation in members’ shopping habits that result in some days being quieter than others. Just when we decided Thursdays were our quietest day, they became busy again.

Our product list remains unchanged with 118 products. Members pay for their shopping via Square or cash. A majority of members use Square.

Product procurement has an element of pot luck and sometimes what I order is not what you receive, and sometimes items are out-of-stock.

Our efforts to remain vermin and pest free has been mostly successful with minimal stock losses. Ongoing monitoring and hygiene are required to avoid the problems we faced in 2021-22.

Our ability to improve storage is hampered by space, however it’s been decided to purchase one extra cupboard.

Thank you Christine for continuing to coordinate the shop roster, and Peter for ongoing management of the day-to-day accounts as well as the biannual stock take.

In 2021 Christine was recognised for her 10 years of coordinator service and given a life membership.

Thank you Wendy Baker for the rest of our accounting matters. Wendy reports a surplus for this financial year of $3,073.25. This is an improvement from the previous year despite our markup remaining at 20%.

Thank you Graeme Greed for ongoing equipment maintenance, and Rhona who keeps members informed with news via her weekly email updates.

Thank you Maren for ordering and packaging the herbs and to Sonia for allowing her front porch to be used for deliveries from suppliers.

Thank you Kay Blore and Karen Nankervis who are improving our recycling efforts.

Thank you to our 11 duty managers and 13 computer operators who take on extra shift responsibilities.

Thank you to Louisa for developing a series of Co-op promotional templates for use on Facebook and to Beverly Lee and Peter Maddock for maintaining our Facebook and BSFG website presence and for tolerating my questioning as I attempt to get my head around the benefits of social media.

Thank you to my husband Richard who unloads the pallet of produce each month and helps me store it. In closing,

I would like to recognise all of you. Together we’re the Benalla Food Co-op community. The Coop is run by you, it’s a great team effort and you are the key component that keeps us operational.

Co-op Committee: Susanne (coordinator), Christine (rosters), Peter (finance), Rhona (weekly up-dates), Karen (recycling), Tanya and Rosalie (Community Garden), Judy (BSFG secretary), Sonia (porch for deliveries) and Julie McPherson.

Duty managers: Graham, Sonia, Tanya, Rosalie, Christine, Rhona, Joy, Robyn, Jack, Eleanor and Susanne.

Computer Operators: Graham, Peter, Karen, Glenys, Simon, Stacy, Deanne, Jenny, Julienne, Maren, Marlies, Sally and Robert.

Enquiries and feedback welcome via the BSFG website or our business email [email protected]

Susanne Bennett
​May 2023

In the twelve months since I last gave an annual report on the Benalla food Co-op, there have been some considerable changes and events take place.
​
We had our first open day on 3rd May in 2011, having arrived at exactly ten years of operation. 
 
In 2011, when we had our first open day with twelve members and 28 products on offer, we did not envisage the successful outcome we now experience. Apart from the aims of the co-operative that you will be familiar with, I believe a huge contributing factor is an underlying appreciation at the food coop for the friendly atmosphere when shopping, and the empowerment of an independent group running it. It has enabled friendships to develop and provides an opportunity for like minded people to share company and commitment. 
We now stock 120 food items determined by request, quality of the product, availability, from where that product is sourced, and of course, popularity.  
 
Membership sits at around 70. This fluctuates over any given year, but importantly there is a large group of regular shoppers requiring us to open once per week.
Over the years, I have particularly enjoyed researching products and discovering new suppliers.  There has always been opportunity to introduce new products and discontinue others not so popular. In all we have twelve product suppliers.  We are proud to support many valued local and regional producers in our district such as King Valley Walnuts, Florence Court Olive Oil from Benalla, Lima East honey, nuts and seeds from the Pumpkin Seed Company, and our latest addition, Apple Cider Vinegar from Stanley.

There are a huge number of tasks required with running the food co-op. Duty managers, duty assistants, computer operators, taking delivery of products, unpacking products, paying the bills and the list goes on. It was always my belief that by spreading these tasks amongst the members, we are in the true sense a 'co-operative',  run by the members. This has enabled us to keep the prices affordable whilst offering high quality products, benefitting all who participate. 

Drastic changes to our operational procedures required to comply with COVID restrictions in 2020, became a serious focal point. We were no less busy than usual with a large number of community members joining the food co-op throughout the early part of COVID restrictions.  In recent times we have been able to relax many of those procedures whilst continuing to maintain a COVID safe environment.                                           
Ten years is good reason for some celebratory events, the first being, and a lucky door prize for the tenth customer, who shopped on the 3rd May 2021. Then on the 4th June, food co-op members are invited to attend a dinner to celebrate 10 years of operation along with my retirement.
 
After ten years as coordinator, I felt it was time that I hand over to someone else. Susanne Bennett came to mind and after some thought, she agreed to take on the position for which we can all be grateful.  We can look forward to a committed member who will bring leadership and a lovely presence to the forefront. I wish Susanne all the best, lots of fun and with the knowledge that you have the support of all the committee with you.

Christine Holmes