You know what’s amazing? We’re three years old, we’re debt free, and we got to raise our hourly wages from 100% volunteer powered to $10 per hour for EVERY HOUR WORKED. We’re hoping to raise pay to $12 per hour soon. What this means is that we’ve figured out how to a) produce our tofu and seitan in an economical and affordable way; b) keep our non-payroll costs low and controlled; and c) hang onto just enough funds to prepare for basic (non-catastrophic) disasters, taxes, and extra materials costs, and pay the rest of our income straight to our workers.
Part of what’s so important about this milestone is that we’re not here to make money. We believe that workers deserve fair compensation for the time that we put into things, and that we all deserve a living wage, regardless of what we’re doing. We also recognize that things cost money, and we need to have enough money to cover the costs that come up in life, like living in buildings and using water and electricity and eating food and transportation and stuff. But even though we aren’t interested in charging as much as we absolutely can and paying as little as we legally must, we can STILL pay better than starting wage than lots of other places.
Next step: providing two full time, well paid positions, and more awesome products to our community!