Food Connect is fair

Part of being fair is being transparent so that you can make an informed decision about the organisations you spend your money with. At Food Connect we are pleased to be able to show you how we spend each dollar we receive and where we receive it from. What happens when you ask other food providers…?

Revenue — 2012

As a social enterprise we are eligible for grants, however to be financially sustainable we need to be able to operate on the sale of the products and services we offer. In the diagram to the right (click to enlarge) you can see that last year only 1.1% of income came from grants.

This is one of the major advantages of a social enterprise over a not-for-profit that relies on grant funding to operate — the ability to continue operating on self-generated income.

How we spend your dollar — 2012

The diagram titled “How each $ is spent” (click to enlarge) shows exactly how we use every dollar you spend at Food Connect. The majority of each dollar goes towards the producers (47%) which is then followed by staff (34%).

So for every dollar you spend on produce, 47c is going directly back to local organic and chemical free producers. This is substantially more than can be returned through the regular stores.

In addition, through your purchasing choice, 10 jobs have been created in the local community and additional micro enterprises such as Adam’s Apple have been created.

Other information

  • No profits go to shareholders.
  • Donations to Food Connect are devoted to distributing food to people in need via Share the Harvest. Over $40,00 of food has been distributed as of December 2011.
  • Food Connect has set a wage differential of 4:1. This means that the top wage earner cannot earn more than 4 times as much as the lowest earner. In comparison to the big companies where the ratio can be 300:1, this is very modest indeed. Currently the ratio is less than 2:1.
  • A Social Return on Investment report on Food Connect by Social Ventures Australia found that for every dollar invested into Food Connect almost $8 is returned to the community in social and environmental good over five years.
  • Australian Ethical is our nominated superannuation fund.

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