Bii-Rite Market Mission Statement
Bi-Rite Market is located in San Francisco, California on the 18th street market. This social benefit corporation is a certified green business, as well as the founder and active member in The Good Food Retailer’s Collaboration. Bi-Rite’s mission statement is, “Creating community through food” and has been family owned and community focused since the business was founded back in 1940. When current owner Sam Mogannam brought back his family’s business legacy in 1997, he has owned and operated the revamped Bi-Rite Market for 20 years. Mogannam implemented an in-house kitchen into the market to be able to prepare foods and express his creativity as chef with a passion for amazing food. From all of Sam’s creative talents and outlets within the
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community, the Mogannam family business aside from its two Bi-Rite grocery stores (one in San Francisco, one in Baltimore); owns a catering company, a three-acre dairy farm in Sonoma, San Francisco’s first local organic ice cream shop, and finally a 501(c)(3) non-profit cooking school called “18 Reasons.”
So why Bi-Rite and why is it worth the time? Mogannam explains that working as a chef after high school sparked his love for having transformative power over raw ingredients and crafting it into something people enjoy. Ultimately, from his love for food and people; the grocery stores are a way of bringing both together and anchoring a community where a local economy can thrive. The market street in San Francisco is home to other worldly recognized gourmet restaurants and bakeries; all of which share the same philosophy on sourcing great ingredients. In fact, the food-related businesses that operated the spaces before them all failed. This gives a sense of the community’s shared desire and demand for high quality and responsibility. All businesses on the block work toward pushing this food movement and have created over 300 jobs. They are creating a community that everybody who works or lives in can be proud of.
Since Bi Rite’s mission is, “Creating community through food” what does community mean to Bi- Rite? Mogannam states that, “Bi-Rite doesn’t have three primary stakeholders, it has four” the first being their guests. The second the producers, the growers, raisers, and creators of the amazing food they sell. The third is a staff who without a team with an equal passion toward connecting people with food, they wouldn’t be where they are today. The fourth is the overall greater community and planet; they want to operate a business that’s sustainably minded and considerate of the environment.
How does Bi-Rite create community?
“Education is an important part of empowerment” explains Mogannam. 18 reason, the nonprofit cooking school, is a perfect example of going deeper in creating community. This program started in 2008 and now reaches around 3500 students a year and engages them in cooking classes and community dinners. 18 reasons now extends to 5 underserved communities in the bay area and deals in teaching students nutrition and tailored diets around food related diseases they may have. They are then taught by a chef and they all work together to prepare a meal and sit down to share it together. They’ve seen a great success rate of attendance in the program and see a 10-12% improvement on how students are changing their eating habits and diets; and are spending more time cooking and feeding their own families. Mogannam says, “We know that if people are healthier, then they’re feeling better and are going to make others feel better and the community is going to be tighter, stronger, and more vibrant.” 18 reasons is funded by private donation (Bi-Rite included), grants, and basic fundraising …show more content…
activity.
When asked how he reacts when people question the values of Bi-Rite from a traditional business “bottom line” point of view; Sam Mogannam explains that he’s never been driven how normal businesses run.
He knows that as a business they must operate in a fiscally responsible way; unless the business is profitable they can’t achieve their mission, hire good people and treat them well, and can’t support a good food system. Bi-Rite has never been driven by the status quo business mindset (to only maximize profits), Bi-Rite thinks that businesses have a responsibility to the community they operate in. Mogannam even goes as far as to say that, “Community service should be integrated into how we make a living and into our work.” Bi-Rite knows that this is in line with their own values and
mission.
Holding to their values can also be a challenge at times. Since they hold so much value in their product its sometimes just too expensive for some customers. Mogannam says that, “What they don’t realize is that by buying responsibly sourced food, it’s so much more than just the food they put in their bellies.” It’s difficult to manage this dilemma on a business level; especially as larger companies are beginning to adopt their buying practices and developing community outreach programs. It all ends up being under the appearance of a larger marketing scheme as opposed to being a value driven effort. Mogannam states that, “If more businesses did the right thing and operated from a place of care, from a sense of purpose, the world would be a better place.”
When asked what kind of inner work as a leader does achieving your mission require or perhaps facilitate? Mogannam says that his business partner and him are thinking about hiring “executive coaches” to help them grow as leaders. As the business grows and will continue to grow, Mogannam likes to do structural evaluations to assist everybody in understanding what they are accountable to accomplish for the company’s mission and helps people grow as leaders themselves. Mogannam also says that as a leader he feels it is important to take your time off seriously and vacation wisely. These are essential ways to make sure they are getting break time so they can connect with their families, recharge, and continue to be inspired. This is a great example of why the business has such a peaceful sense of to it; the CEO doesn’t push himself or others too far to run the business and make money. Mogannam also says that, “The most important thing is to love what you do; if you don’t, you’ll never be effective at leading a team.”
An added piece of advice that Mogannam gives to individuals starting a business, or in one that is struggling, is to have a clearly defined and well-articulated mission and vision statement. Also, be sure the team knows their role in accomplishing the mission and vision. For Bi-Rite, they have a core mission statement; but also have a mission for their product, service, training, and community. The Bi-Rite family spent the better part of 2012-2013 creating their 10-year vision statement. This includes what they want their food, staff, impact on the community/environment, relationship with vendors, and financial scope to look like in 2024.
They use their mission and vision statement to keep them going in the right direction; and hire the right people with the same values and understanding for the community and outlook for Bi-Rite. These ideas start at the interview and continue every day of training, which never stops, “Were all in training every single day; understanding this makes us work much better together.”
community, the Mogannam family business aside from its two Bi-Rite grocery stores (one in San Francisco, one in Baltimore); owns a catering company, a three-acre dairy farm in Sonoma, San Francisco’s first local organic ice cream shop, and finally a 501(c)(3) non-profit cooking school called “18 Reasons.”
So why Bi-Rite and why is it worth the time? Mogannam explains that working as a chef after high school sparked his love for having transformative power over raw ingredients and crafting it into something people enjoy. Ultimately, from his love for food and people; the grocery stores are a way of bringing both together and anchoring a community where a local economy can thrive. The market street in San Francisco is home to other worldly recognized gourmet restaurants and bakeries; all of which share the same philosophy on sourcing great ingredients. In fact, the food-related businesses that operated the spaces before them all failed. This gives a sense of the community’s shared desire and demand for high quality and responsibility. All businesses on the block work toward pushing this food movement and have created over 300 jobs. They are creating a community that everybody who works or lives in can be proud of.
Since Bi Rite’s mission is, “Creating community through food” what does community mean to Bi- Rite? Mogannam states that, “Bi-Rite doesn’t have three primary stakeholders, it has four” the first being their guests. The second the producers, the growers, raisers, and creators of the amazing food they sell. The third is a staff who without a team with an equal passion toward connecting people with food, they wouldn’t be where they are today. The fourth is the overall greater community and planet; they want to operate a business that’s sustainably minded and considerate of the environment.
How does Bi-Rite create community?
“Education is an important part of empowerment” explains Mogannam. 18 reason, the nonprofit cooking school, is a perfect example of going deeper in creating community. This program started in 2008 and now reaches around 3500 students a year and engages them in cooking classes and community dinners. 18 reasons now extends to 5 underserved communities in the bay area and deals in teaching students nutrition and tailored diets around food related diseases they may have. They are then taught by a chef and they all work together to prepare a meal and sit down to share it together. They’ve seen a great success rate of attendance in the program and see a 10-12% improvement on how students are changing their eating habits and diets; and are spending more time cooking and feeding their own families. Mogannam says, “We know that if people are healthier, then they’re feeling better and are going to make others feel better and the community is going to be tighter, stronger, and more vibrant.” 18 reasons is funded by private donation (Bi-Rite included), grants, and basic fundraising …show more content…
activity.
When asked how he reacts when people question the values of Bi-Rite from a traditional business “bottom line” point of view; Sam Mogannam explains that he’s never been driven how normal businesses run.
He knows that as a business they must operate in a fiscally responsible way; unless the business is profitable they can’t achieve their mission, hire good people and treat them well, and can’t support a good food system. Bi-Rite has never been driven by the status quo business mindset (to only maximize profits), Bi-Rite thinks that businesses have a responsibility to the community they operate in. Mogannam even goes as far as to say that, “Community service should be integrated into how we make a living and into our work.” Bi-Rite knows that this is in line with their own values and
mission.
Holding to their values can also be a challenge at times. Since they hold so much value in their product its sometimes just too expensive for some customers. Mogannam says that, “What they don’t realize is that by buying responsibly sourced food, it’s so much more than just the food they put in their bellies.” It’s difficult to manage this dilemma on a business level; especially as larger companies are beginning to adopt their buying practices and developing community outreach programs. It all ends up being under the appearance of a larger marketing scheme as opposed to being a value driven effort. Mogannam states that, “If more businesses did the right thing and operated from a place of care, from a sense of purpose, the world would be a better place.”
When asked what kind of inner work as a leader does achieving your mission require or perhaps facilitate? Mogannam says that his business partner and him are thinking about hiring “executive coaches” to help them grow as leaders. As the business grows and will continue to grow, Mogannam likes to do structural evaluations to assist everybody in understanding what they are accountable to accomplish for the company’s mission and helps people grow as leaders themselves. Mogannam also says that as a leader he feels it is important to take your time off seriously and vacation wisely. These are essential ways to make sure they are getting break time so they can connect with their families, recharge, and continue to be inspired. This is a great example of why the business has such a peaceful sense of to it; the CEO doesn’t push himself or others too far to run the business and make money. Mogannam also says that, “The most important thing is to love what you do; if you don’t, you’ll never be effective at leading a team.”
An added piece of advice that Mogannam gives to individuals starting a business, or in one that is struggling, is to have a clearly defined and well-articulated mission and vision statement. Also, be sure the team knows their role in accomplishing the mission and vision. For Bi-Rite, they have a core mission statement; but also have a mission for their product, service, training, and community. The Bi-Rite family spent the better part of 2012-2013 creating their 10-year vision statement. This includes what they want their food, staff, impact on the community/environment, relationship with vendors, and financial scope to look like in 2024.
They use their mission and vision statement to keep them going in the right direction; and hire the right people with the same values and understanding for the community and outlook for Bi-Rite. These ideas start at the interview and continue every day of training, which never stops, “Were all in training every single day; understanding this makes us work much better together.”