CMBA Member Highlight: Good Tern Co-op

Member Highlight: Good Tern Co-op

Good Tern Co-op
Good Tern Co-op, located in Rockland, Maine, is a wonderful and thriving food cooperative that has been serving its community since its inception as a buying club in 1980. Over the years, it has grown into a beautiful natural foods cooperative with a robust membership of over 1,350 active members. In 2018, the co-op expanded by purchasing the Bagel Shop along with the property next door, further solidifying its presence in the community. Under the leadership of General Manager Erin Donovan, who joined in 2022, Good Tern Co-op is on a solid path to growth and adaptation, providing high-quality products and services to its members and the broader community.

Good Tern is a food cooperative dedicated to offering fresh, local, and organic products to its members. The co-op also operates a cafe, providing a cozy space for community members to gather and enjoy wholesome meals. In addition to groceries, the co-op’s recent expansion includes the addition of a custom walk-in cooler and freezer, ensuring that it can meet the growing demand for fresh produce and other perishable items with reliable infrastructure.

Current Challenges
Like many cooperatives, Good Tern Co-op has faced its share of challenges, including high turnover in leadership roles and the ongoing need for infrastructure improvements. One significant hurdle was the potential loss of a Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) grant due to inaction. However, the co-op’s leadership team re-evaluated its needs and successfully pivoted the grant’s focus to fund the construction of a new walk-in cooler and freezer, addressing critical storage issues.

In addition to these internal challenges, Good Tern has had to contend with external pressures, such as the arrival of large competitors like Hannaford Supermarket and Walmart in the community. These retail giants, expanding their natural and organic offerings as demand increases, present a significant challenge for the co-op, making it difficult to maintain sales and membership growth.

The co-op has also been grappling with the complexities of its non-perpetual inventory system, which, although mostly satisfactory, presents some difficulties when managing certain growth strategies. To address these challenges, Good Tern has been focused on extensive internal work, including updating job descriptions to better reflect current roles, developing electronic resources and systems to support employees, and organizing the co-op’s data to enhance overall efficiency. These efforts are essential to creating a solid foundation, allowing the co-op to eventually turn its attention to external growth strategies, such as marketing and expanding community engagement.

Future Development and Sustainability
Good Tern Co-op is committed to sustainability and long-term growth. With the support of the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast, the co-op completed its cooler and freezer project with minimal disruption to customers and a 3.3% increase in retail space. With new leadership and successful development of infrastructure as well as sales strategies the now 3,000 sq ft co-op has seen a complete turnaround on its Profit & Loss statement, moving from a position of negative net income to profitability. It has seen a remarkable 10% increase in overall sales compared to the same 12 month period prior, with produce sales alone up by 20% in the past four months. These achievements are a testament to the co-op’s strategic planning and commitment to strengthening its internal systems, cross-training staff, and building a solid foundation based on trust and collaboration.

Looking ahead, Good Tern Co-op is focused on further enhancing its services, exploring new sales opportunities, and deepening its connections within the community. The co-op’s recent membership with National Cooperative Grocers (NCG) is another step toward ensuring long-term success and providing even more value to its members.

Erin has also already expanded the co-ops collective thinking on community engagement and additional sales strategies by ensuring that the co-op is visible at community events. She has also developed relationships with entities like Penobscot Air, flying food from the co-op to island residents with limited ferry and food access. This is an endeavor that Erin would like to grow by partnering with organizations such as the Island Institute and the Island Ferry service in order to efficiently get quality and specialty food to island cafés, restaurants, schools and residents. 

Connection with CMBA and Other Resources
Good Tern Co-op first learned about the Cooperative Maine Business Alliance (CMBA) through its network of local cooperatives and joined as members in 2024 after sponsoring and attending the Principle Six Conference in April.

When asked about what resources have been valuable to Good Tern, Erin expresses deep gratitude to neighboring co-ops — Belfast, Rising Tide, Fare Share, and Blue Hill. “Their generous support and resources have been invaluable throughout our  journey.” Excited about the progress they have made in the last couple of years and in true P6 fashion, they are willing to share with other co-ops, experiencing similar challenges or development paths. Please email your initial questions to gm@goodtern.coop.

Good Tern Co-op’s story is one of resilience, cooperation, and community. From its humble beginnings as a buying club to its current status as a thriving community hub, despite its many years of leadership turnover, the co-op exemplifies the power of collaboration and the importance of staying connected to cooperative principles. With continued support from its members and partners, Good Tern Co-op, with Erin and her team at the helm, is well positioned for a bright and sustainable future.