GREENWORKER SPOTLIGHT ON A WORKER COOPERATIVE: B-BLOSSOM
B-Blossom is about Healthy, Local, Tasty Food for the Community
We want to be a part of the Bronx moving forward.
We are organizing this cooperative as a catering business. We are interested in developing healthy food products for market, like salad dressings for diabetics. We don’t see people eating apples with salad. We need to let them know that with an apple added it’s complete with vinaigrette. We are very concerned about health products. Recently, I saw a program about the “Superfoods of the Year.” Items like quinoa, walnuts, blueberries, chilies. If these items get to your fridge, most people don’t know what to do with them. We want to educate and train people to enjoy vegetables. We want to have classes to teach them how to cook and eat healthy foods.
Talk about members of your coop. We have five members. Matthew Ranghel does menu creation, trains members, and cooks for the cooperative. He makes sure that everything goes smoothly in the kitchen. He is also our food compliance and safety coordinator. Diane P. Ogle is our sous chef. She has a degree in diet and nutrition. She works with Matthew on menu What kind of education or creation and nutrition. Loida Perez is business needs do you think you our pastry chef. She creates the will require for your coop in cookies and sweets. Bertha Perez development? performs the administration for the cooperative. I (Manuela) perform We know that everyone needs more marketing for the cooperative. What are your visions for BBlossom cooperative?
financial literacy. Our coop has a tremendous need for marketing assistance. We have to put together an effective sales strategy that could
possibly include procuring contracts with larger institutions. After completing Coop Academy, we are also wondering how do we work with other coops. How can we support each other by utilizing the resources of other cooperatives?
What are you dreaming about now? When are we going to do this? We need a commercial space. In order for you to do manufacturing, you need certification for that. You need to work in a certified kitchen. There is one certified kitchen in the Bronx. We would really like our own commercial kitchen.
“We are in the business of enticing people with their palette.”
Photo taken by Leyla Rosario