Under the management of the Wholefoods Collective, after we won back our autonomy from the 2012 MSA Executive late last year and resumed our role as the primary decision-making body, the Wholefoods restaurant and cafe are now ‘back in the black’.
While financial viability is neither the only or the primary purpose of Wholefoods, working towards and achieving a ‘break even’ budget is nevertheless an integral part of Wholefoods’ philosophy as outlined its Constitution. The arguably precarious financial situation of the MSA, mainly due to the Senior Administration’s belligerent approach with respect to distributing SSAF funding, also heightens the importance of departments like Wholefoods operating within their budget constraints.
The Collective is therefore pleased to report that as of the 30th June 2013, Wholefoods is now operating according to its ‘break even’ budget principle with a small surplus of $2,932.
This compares favourably to the same time last year when, under the management of the 2012 MSA Executive, Wholefoods was operating at a staggering deficit of $48,847. Indeed, last year’s MSA Executive mis-management of Wholefoods was so bad that the MSA President Esther Hood suggested in Lot’s Wife Edition 2, 2012, that she might have no choice but to “close the doors on Wholefoods forever”.
Fortunately, however, after last year’s Save Wholefoods campaign, the 2012 MSA President and her Executive were persuaded to return control over Wholefoods operations back to the student/worker Collective. We have since reversed the trend of massive financial losses Wholefoods sustained under MSA management for several years.
The opposite info graphic of Wholefoods finances over the past decade illustrates the financial benefits of a worker-run Wholefoods. The consistent surpluses made when Wholefoods was run primarily by the student/worker Collective undermine the popular notion that a workplace requires conventional top-down management in order to be viable.
This financial turnaround is due to several factors which include Collective’s decision to reinstate coordinators (in place of last year’s MSA appointed full-time manager/boss), reinstating the volunteer system (abolished by the 2012 MSA Executive), reviewing expenses and shift structures, and reducing prices where possible to increase Wholefoods overall turnover.
Furthermore, energy formerly invested in the 2012 Save Wholefoods campaign has also been freed-up and redirected into community building projects from organising social activities in the space and projects such as the balcony garden, to menu redevelopment and publicity. While the Collective acknowledges that there is undoubtedly still much work to be done in restoring and developing Wholefoods, we welcome this current state of financial surplus as an encouraging sign that we are on the right track.
Above all, we believe that the current financial situation is testament to the efforts of our Collective members (all student volunteers) who include coordinators, staff, cafe and kitchen volunteers and customers. Without their dedication and hard work, including numerous hours of planning and organising that goes on behind the scenes, there is no way that Wholefoods would be as vibrant and viable as it is today.
The Collective would also like to acknowledge the assistance of MSA Operations Manager Matt Parker who has supported us this year in getting Wholefoods ‘back in the black’. We are proud to have demonstrated such fiscal responsibility and we are confident that the political autonomy we have secured and maintained within the MSA this year continues into the future. The Collective looks forward to an ongoing productive relationship with MSA staff and a respectful relationship with the present and future MSA student Executives and other student Office Bearers.
Finally, we would like to emphasise the ‘worker-run’ structure of Collective management as the key to Wholefoods’ success as a vibrant community hub and financially viable enterprise. We hope that our achievements through Wholefoods will prove that this democratic organising model is not only viable but indeed vastly superior to conventionally autocratic workplaces in terms of accountability, efficiency, quality and affordability.
Indeed, we are not aware of any strong arguments as to why the democratic, consensus-based mode of organising and management embodied by the Wholefoods Collective could not or should not be implemented and practised in other aspects of the University community, including the University administration. With more staff, student and worker control over all aspects of Monash University, we are sure that there would be far less financial mis-management (i.e. $20 million on Menzies Lawn, $2million Campus ‘Loop Walk’, or the $1million VC salary) and a much stronger and vibrant community life on campus.
Wholefoods Collective will seek to re-invest any surplus made at the end of the year back into Wholefoods to improve the space and service through refurbishment and upgrading old machinery (investment in ‘capital stock’ to use economics speak). We will also attempt to ensure that our prices remain as low as possible within our ‘break even’ parameters (we will avoid running large surpluses just for the sake of it).
This semester students should look out for a new look cafe menu with additional items including baked potatoes, soups and snack packs. We have also recently improved our coffee machine and improved our take away service, so drop in a taste our new caffeinated brews which are the cheapest on campus. And check out the addition of new soups, garlic bread and roast vegetable salads in the kitchen to complement our renowned lasagnes, stir-fries and desserts.
Remember you can still sign up to volunteer in the kitchen or cafe where you will meet new people and learn skills in hospitality while being rewarded with a meal per hour volunteered.
And if you want to become more actively involved in Wholefoods you can join the Collective and help us to re-establish the Grocery, build a Balcony Garden, set up a Food Bank, re-decorate and re-design the space, organise functions and parties, draft the 2014 budget, propose and implement further innovations.
Please contact us:
R-Coo Tran – Volunteers Coordinator: rcoo.tran@gmail.com
James Grout – Wholefoods Collective organiser:
jegro5@student.monash.edu
