Grocery Store Crowdfunding in “Food Desert” Located in Oakland California

“So far the approach is working, with nearly 200 California residents of diverse economic backgrounds signed on,” says Brahm Ahmadi, CEO and Co-founder of PCM. “Nearly 80% of these investors are unaccredited investors of average economic standing, and the majority have never had the opportunity to invest in a small business before. “

Unlike private offerings, which are limited to relatively small groups of accredited investors, and unlike popular “crowdfunding” projects, which solicit donations, PCM has created a grassroots investment model that offers preferred shares directly to unaccredited investors in the public and promises to pay them back with a modest return.

With 95% of PCM’s investors living in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company is proving that people are willing to directly invest, and accept modest returns, in small businesses that pursue a social mission and that have strong ties to the local region and community. 

“When I read about the People’s Community Market I was immediately struck by the positive impact such a market would make on the people it will serve,” said Susan Thompson, an investor living in Petaluma, CA. “A simple investment to create a food market for neighborhoods that don’t have one could only be a good thing.” 

PCM is offering investors a financial return of 3% compounded annual interest rate. Investors will also receive a 1% annual store credit. The offering is limited to residents of California and requires a minimum investment of $1,000 from unaccredited investors (have less than $1M in net worth) and $5,000 for accredited investors (have more than $1M in net worth).

People’s Community Market is also creating a new sustainable business model to address an important social and public health issue — the “food desert” in West Oakland. This inner-city community of 26,000 residents, who are predominantly African American and Latino, do not have access to full-service grocery stores, despite the fact they collectively spend over $58M a year on groceries. As a result, 70% of the residents’ grocery spending goes to stores in surrounding cities, requiring them to travel great distances and in most cases, without a vehicle. The alternative is to shop at nearby corner stores that carry mostly processed, poor quality foods sold at high prices. As a result, the community suffers high rates of diet-related illnesses such as obesity and diabetes.

While the first closing marks a key milestone toward the goal of raising $1 million, it also strengthens PCM’s longer term goal of raising an additional $2 million through secured loans and institutional investors to meet the total project budget of $3M. PCM emerges from over 10 years of community-based food enterprise experience and has a successful track record of working with public-private partnerships such as the California Freshworks Fund.

“People’s Community Market is the essence of what FreshWorks Fund is about,” commented Scott Sporte, Chief Lending Officer, NCB Capital Impact, the organization managing the fund. “With over a decade working on food access issues in West Oakland, they developed the concept for a store focused on fresh foods based on the successful work of its sister organization together with deep knowledge of local community,” Sporte continued. 

“Everyone involved with People’s Community Market — shareholders, partners and the community — are very proud of the progress we are making toward our goal of building a full-service grocery store in West Oakland,” said Mr. Ahmadi.