Room For All - S2 E19 - Live at the 2025 Social Enterprise Festival - Jemma Tribe

Join us as we sit down with Jemma Tribe, chairperson of the Nowra Community Food Store, to explore how a small-town social enterprise is making a big impact! From humble beginnings to serving thousands each week, Jemma shares the challenges, triumphs, and community spirit that keep the doors open.

00:00 – Introduction & Jemma’s background
01:46 – What is the Nowra Community Food Store?
03:11 – How the store operates & its unique model
04:31 – The story of saving the store from closure
06:31 – Where does the food come from?
08:19 – Volunteers & running the store
10:41 – Creating a welcoming, dignified experience
13:51 – Addressing food insecurity in the region
16:00 – Balancing affordability & sustainability
19:57 – The Grower Row initiative & community projects
22:08 – How many people the store helps each week
24:20 – Fresh food, donations, and creative solutions
27:52 – Jemma’s message about social enterprise
29:53 – How to get involved & contact info

Learn more, donate, or get involved:

🌐 nowrafoodstore.com.au
📘 Facebook: Nowra Community Food Store

NCFS is a low cost grocery store for low income earners, offering affordable and free food and self care items. NCFS is a 100% self sustaining social enterprise, open 5 days a week at South Nowra.

Transcript

Jemma Tribe

​[00:00:00]

Speaker: [00:01:00] Jemma Jemma Tribe. Welcome to Room for All. Thank you. Um, chairperson of the Nowra Community Food Store. Mm-hmm. Tell us a little bit more about who Jemma is and what is the Jemma community fits all. 

Speaker 4: The Nowra Community Food Store is a social enterprise on the South Coast.

We offer free and affordable food for anyone doing it tough. Uh, we're open five days a week and, uh, we've worked really hard over [00:02:00] the last four years at establishing a sustainable model. That means that we can be around for the long haul to help people. And, uh, as part of that, uh, we're now able to, I guess, share that model with others.

So I've written. Two eBooks, one on a blueprint for anyone thinking or of starting or scaling up a food relief service in their community. And the other's a so, uh, south Coast Social Social Enterprise Guide, which has a bit of a mini directory, and is also just trying to help people wrap their heads around what this concept is, because I do think in regional areas like ours, it's still a little bit misunderstood.

Speaker: Hmm. Okay. I've got lots of questions already in my head. Yeah. I'm going. You go first. You go first. Start as the social enterprise or it was an offshoot of something that was that existing or the, 

Speaker 4: the store was actually, it was founded over 20 years ago by a couple who ran it under the auspices of another charity, and then when they were retiring and that charity was wanting to pull out.

They looked for about 12 [00:03:00] months for another charity to work with them. Okay. And they couldn't find one. The store was losing a lot of money and things like that, and they actually called me down with my business chamber hat on to just kind of help get the word out and see if anyone would take on the store to make sure it didn't close.

Um, it, it did close for a time, but I was really struck by what I saw there and the incredible need for a service like this, which is. Kind of unlike any other, and feel was a really important gap in the market. And I, I just kept thinking, someone has to do something about this. Someone has to do it. And then I, you know, when you have those 3:00 AM realizations, I think that someone's gonna have to be me.

Speaker 2: I hate those stories. 

Speaker 4: And so, because you didn't go back 

Speaker 2: to sleep, I'm sure. No, 

Speaker 4: I didn't. And I just thought, thought it just in kind of, it's one of those things that you go, oh yeah. That I actually could do that. I have And when was this? How long ago? Four years ago. Okay. So I, I have masters. So this has been your life.

Speaker 2: For four years. Yeah. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. Living and breathing it. And, um, so we've, we've been able to make it work as this model Nice. 

Speaker 2: [00:04:00] Sustainable in four years is pretty impressive. 

Speaker: So paint us a picture. What does the store look like? Like is how big is it? It, where does the food come from? Who, who are the Yeah. Yeah.

That's my 

Speaker 2: biggest question. Where does the food come from? Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 4: We buy from food bank in Sydney. Yeah. And then we resell just enough to cover overheads like. All of the other things that a business would have to pay for and rent, electricity, insurance, all that kind of thing. We also get donations. So, um, food rescue programs like Woolies and Aldi and others have, um, we get their items that are on or close to their best before date and give those away.

We, uh, also getting donations. Other stores and businesses in our local area Who, um, oh yeah. I'm a bit of a hand talker. So you gonna watch your job? No, no. I was just, he's Italian. I wasn't taking, he does, I wasn't taking like, we'll just take this away from her. No. Um, and um, yeah, we, we spend probably five or six hours a day processing those, those free items and, and passing them on.

Speaker 2: Is it volunteers? 

Speaker 4: It's [00:05:00] predominantly volunteers. Yeah. We have 40 volunteers. That's a lot of management. Oh, wow. And a really robust volunteer management plan. And then a couple of paid staff members. And, uh, I'm, I'm not one of them. I'm a, I'm a volunteer. Um, but it's, it's, yeah, it's just, and what does 

Speaker: it look like?

Does it look like a food store, a regular store supermarket sort of thing? And that was what's 

Speaker 4: exactly a regular. Grocery store and it was really important to us that it looks and feels like that. Yeah. That, um, we don't ask questions at the door. There's not these sort of rules that you might find with a traditional charity structure.

We want people to feel Yeah. Like a food bank empowered. Yeah. They're customers. So it's sort of 

Speaker: self-selecting. You don't Exactly, 

Speaker 4: exactly. So effectively Exactly. 

Speaker 2: You get a basket, you get a trolley in your shop, 

Speaker 4: that's it. And 

Speaker 2: the prices are just different. 

Speaker 4: Exactly. And. People. I often get people say, oh, is it the needy or the greedy that you're helping?

And I would, oh, it's everyone. I would much rather a thousand people came through the door in a day who still have their dignity intact and get what they need. And maybe one [00:06:00] person slips through who didn't need a free loaf of bread. But at the end of the day, if that's what we have to do to tackle the problem than great.

Yeah, I agree. 

Speaker 2: But I mean, there's so much food waste with expiry dates anyway. Yeah. That the need for this everywhere. Yeah, 

Speaker 4: absolutely. 

Speaker 2: What are they gonna do with the food otherwise? 

Speaker 4: Exactly. Yeah. And I think that's a really misunderstood issue. Best before dates and used by dates. That's a whole other topic and I don't think it's well understood.

And when we are talking at a time of. Increasing food insecurity for people, and we actually have stats in our region where 38% of households are experiencing food insecurity. They're not able to access nutritious food. 30% of those households are with kids. 

Speaker: Yeah. Right. Yeah. It's hard. It's, 

Speaker 4: it's a growing issue.

Speaker: Absolutely. It's a big one. Huge. How do you balance affordability for customers with a need for you to actually have prices that. Make a profit. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. Sustainable. Yeah, exactly. It's a, it's a tough balancing act because I always say at the end of the day, we have to be around and exist in order to help people, [00:07:00] but we also can't lose sight of why we are there and it can't be a, a black and white situation.

You have to be able to see areas of gray and see where you've gotta be able to help people. But we do, um, try and stick to our strategic purpose. Yeah. Because the more you know, you drift away from that. You kind of get yourself in trouble, but we've. We did that over the years where I just wanted to say yes to everything and everyone, and you just can't, yeah.

You have to really stay on that alignment. Um, and I, yeah. I, I see that as the, the biggest issue for that. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So 

Speaker 2: you're a volunteer. Yep. Um, and you are the chair person and you're run by volunteers. 

Speaker 4: Yep. That's 

Speaker 2: pretty impressive. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. We do have some paid staff. That was for 

Speaker 2: every organization's.

Yeah. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. One of the things we found when we, we didn't, it just things slipped between the cracks and a hundred percent. There just needs to be that person. The consistency. Yeah. That exactly, and that operational oversight to make sure you, you know. Dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Well, 

Speaker 2: congratulations.

Four years done on sustainable. Done. That's massive. Done. 

Speaker: Um, and what's the, what's next? What's the [00:08:00] future like? 

Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. We, one of the great things about social enterprise is getting to, um, uh. Respond to needs and, you know, be able to be quite entrepreneurial about it. So we often kind of pursue these little areas like pay it forward hampers or per pantry challenges.

And our latest is, um, a Grower Row initiative. So we've got a edible garden at the side of the store that we are completely. Overhauling this spring. And as part of that we'll be giving seeds, seedlings away to community members who want to grow along at home with us and donate a row back to the store for people in need.

That's cool. And we'll have DIY tip sheets and all that kind of thing. And yeah, so really excited about that nice initiative. 

Speaker 2: It really does bring the community, doesn't it? Nice together? Yes. 

Speaker: Mm. How many, how many customers do you get in a week or in a day what's the measure dementia?

Speaker 4: Um, for the week thousands.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. So, um, for a day probably, 

Speaker: yeah. 

Speaker 4: At least five, 600. Yeah. Right. Yeah. 

Speaker: And you do like normal shop times, like nine to [00:09:00] five something or later or what's that? Five? 

Speaker 4: Uh, we are nine to three. 

Speaker: Nine to 

Speaker 4: five. Um, we found a lot of our volunteers, um. Yeah, wanna work within either school hours or, um, if they're aging, have, um, granddaddy daycare and all that kind of responsibility.

So it is fairly limited. Um, but we still find it's, it's still different to anything else out there because what you'll often find with Food Relief Services is there. Two hours a week at, at a particular time and you walk in and mark your name off and you know, what do you do the rest of the week? So, uh, it's really important to us to have that daily operation.

Speaker 2: So another question I have, do you do fresh food like meat and dairy? I don't know what else. 

Speaker 4: Yeah, we do vegetables and fresh fruit and vegetables is something that we've really struggled to come by and hence the, the garden project and all that kind of thing. Um. Before that the challenge was red meat and getting enough and we actually had a cow donated and we got sausages and mint as a result of [00:10:00] that for a really long time.

So we could do our $5 dinner packs Oh cow. That we were doing. I know. It is, it is a little bit sad for the cow, I must admit, but, but 

Speaker 2: people need to eat. 

Speaker 4: Yeah. And look it, it was a retiring dairy cow. That's okay. Um, she had a good life and, um. And the, the, you know, the owners were glad that she went on to help more people after that.

So I, yeah, I apologize in advance for any vegans out there, but if she really did do a great service for the community, 

Speaker 2: when you have to apologize like that, you know, it's a good podcast. 

Speaker: Right. Okay. And so, so, but, but you do you, now you're saying you're addressing the fresh food and veg, hopefully with a garden type of things.

Yeah, yeah. 

Speaker 4: And we do encourage people, especially around winter, people are great at dropping in bags of citrus and it, it, it really is a very, uh, collaborative community sort of project. Yeah. Very good, very good. I mean, 

Speaker 2: I can't grow anything like I've just killed my two house plants that I've managed to keep.

Going for three years that they're dead I'll buying 

Speaker: new plants for your birthday because you've [00:11:00] killed two years in a row. So that's it. You're moving onto to something else. So I can't go any fruit and veg. Um, if, um, if your enterprise was a dish mm-hmm. On a menu, what would it be? 

Speaker 4: I'd have to say bangers and mash.

Um, we got every single person gave us a different answer. 

Speaker: It's so cool. Why? 

Speaker 4: Um, well, sausages are a bit of a staple in the store. Yeah. Um, we, um, yeah, we sell about 600 packets of sausage a week. Yeah. It's, everyone 

Speaker: likes it. 

Speaker 4: Exactly. If they're only having meat once a week, then $3 50 for. A pack of 20 sausages is, is their go-to.

So it's, yeah, it's a, it's a, one of the highest selling items in store. And I think it just also, um, it, you know, it's, it's 

Speaker 2: a staple. 

Speaker 4: It's a staple. 

Speaker 2: Bangers and mash. Yeah. It gets the done 

Speaker 4: go gourmet sausage just 

Speaker 2: to No, yeah. You would be the gourmet sausage. I'm a simple, thin sausage 

Speaker 4: pork or beef, uh, it's, it's usually what, whatever we can get from food [00:12:00] bank.

Yeah. Fair. I Fair enough. I think at the moment it's beef. Yeah. Okay. 

Speaker: I like pork. I like pork sausages. Sausages. Yeah. Yeah. I grew up with them. My butcher 

Speaker 2: makes so many different types of sausages. It's just my preferred 

Speaker: sausage. Is the Italian like a little bit thicker one? Like it's, it's cut a little bit thicker.

Mm. Quite a bit of pepper. Not with fennel, 'cause that, that's what they do in South Southern Italy. But that's where I come from. There's no fennel but it's pepper. And yeah. Really nice. Yeah. Right. 

Speaker 2: You know, bangers M but any sausage isn are good. 

Speaker: You're right. So, great answer. I love that answer. I love that.

See that question worked with everyone so far. It's good. I, I noticed that 

Speaker 2: like, um, when I was growing up, bangers, a mash was like the full staple in my house. Mm-hmm. Maybe that's just me, but it is, it's a, it's a, 

Speaker: well, it's, it's the quick thing to do, right? Yeah. 

Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. The other big seller is baked beans in the store.

Yeah, of course. And obviously then you get the free bread, so some people will literally just 

Speaker 2: come in for that. This, it's a big debate in my house a few weeks ago at the canned spaghetti. Mm. Like you either love it or hate it. All 

Speaker: right. That's it. I'm switching. I'm switching on it. I 

Speaker 2: [00:13:00] never said I love it, but baked beans is my daughter's fa favorite bake beans on toast.

I can do. 

Speaker: Yeah. But spaghetti on can please. Yeah. Is this like 

Speaker 4: breaking the spaghetti before you put it in a sauce? It's just a big no-no works. It takes it to another level. Spaghetti. You 

Speaker: eat pineapple pizza any day as opposed to can spaghetti. I used 

Speaker 2: eat tin spaghetti when I was growing up. I don't know if it was just a, 

Speaker: oh, I loved it.

It 

Speaker 2: too used. I loved it too. Look, I tried it not that long ago ago. You, the It's not for me now. You the only, 

Speaker: I actually had tin spaghetti once. You know where I was. 

Speaker 2: I'm so surprised. 

Speaker: Please fill halfway through the Kokoda track because that's the only food that they could have given us. Wow. Desperate times.

Desperate times come with, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna 

Speaker 2: put it all in your office drawers. And then that's the other thing. Oh my God. Candy 

Speaker: spaghetti. Uh, they take my passport away from it. Uh. Off. To finish off, what's one thing that we haven't spoken about that you would really like people to hear or to know 

Speaker 4: about 

Speaker: your organization, about anything?

Speaker 4: I think going back to that misconception, like a lot of people say, oh, why isn't [00:14:00]everything free? And Well, I think, you know, I, I said if we'd have half a million dollars to keep the doors open and run the place and give everything away, then that would be great. But, uh, you know, we don't get government funding.

Um, we're, we're self-sustaining and we have to be able to generate a revenue to keep going. And so I think, I think it is an issue that's still misunderstood about social enterprise that you do. Um, we do have to generate a commercial revenue for our social purpose. Agree. But we are unapologetically for that social purpose.

And if we weren't there doing it, we wouldn't be meeting that need. And I think sometimes it's hard for people to wrap their heads around, but it's just so important. That's a great message. But even just 

Speaker 2: to be affordable is huge. Like groceries are expensive. Yeah, yeah, of course. Absolutely. I can't go into Woolworth without spending like a hundred dollars for things. for things. Exactly. It's so easy. 

Speaker: Well, I, um. Finally, where can people find you or how do people get in touch? Yeah, 

Speaker 4: yeah. We've got a, a website, nowra food store.com au. We are on, uh, Facebook, Nowra, community food store. [00:15:00] And, uh, there's opportunities on our website for if people wanna get involved, whether they wanna donate, pay it forward, hamper to pass on to somebody in need.

All those kinds of options are there and Fantastic. Yeah, we'd love to hear from people. Fantastic. Oh yeah. Thank you, Jemma I hope you had fun. Thank you. We had fun. Thank you. Yeah, it was fun. Really enjoyed it. 

Jemma Tribe: Thank you.​