SF Supervisor Bilal Mahmood is launching a pilot program to help neighborhood grocers and nonprofits pool produce orders, negotiate lower wholesale prices, and make groceries more affordable for residents.San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood and the Food and Agriculture Action Coalition Toward Sov ereignty (FAACTS) announced the District 5 Grocery Affordability Initiative Thursday, a pilot that would let neighborhood grocers and nonprofits combine their orders for produce and other staples to negotiate lower wholesale prices. As Mission Local reports, Mahmood’s office estimates the arrangement could reduce wholesale costs by around 10% and prices for consumers by up to 25%.The program would initially involve the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center and the nonprofit Farming Hope, with at least five independent grocers expected to join later. Former congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti contributed $50,000 to fund the design phase, but the initiative needs another $200,000 for data analysis and compliance tracking.The model reportedly takes a page from similar group-purchasing programs in Philadelphia and Paris, allowing smaller businesses to access bulk pricing that typically favors major chains.“The innovation here was basically, how can we take what happens with larger chains and provide the same benefit for smaller independent grocers?” Mahmood said, speaking to KQED.The initiative is intended to help residents in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, Fillmore, Haight-Ashbury, and Western Addition, where access to full-service grocery stores can be limited, forcing residents to travel elsewhere in the city or rely on corner stores, which can’t always compete with larger retailers on price.Jade Quizon, director of FAACTS, told Mission Local the organization plans to focus on roughly a dozen pantry staples that participating stores already carry, potentially including tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and milk. The group would also negotiate prices on behalf of independent grocers.The pilot follows Mahmood’s earlier effort to address grocery access through his proposed Affordable Groceries Act, which would have penalized vacant grocery storefronts and removed barriers to opening new stores. That proposal was derailed after opposition from business owners and Mayor Daniel Lurie, and never reached a vote.As KQED reports, Shakirah Simley, executive director of the Booker T. Washington Community Service Center and a founding steering committee member of FAACTS SF, said the center’s food justice program has faced mounting challenges from reduced federal food assistance and the closure of two full-service grocery stores in the neighborhood.“The pilot is an urgent and creative solution toward solving food access and uplifting the good work already happening in our communities,” Simley said in a statement.Mahmood hopes the pilot will eventually become a permanent, citywide program, with funding included in the next budget cycle. If approved, the initiative could launch within eight to nine months.Related: TT Asian Market’s SF Location at Geary and Masonic to Open November 5 ...read more read less