The high-speed folding machine handles most envelopes; some large envelopes still need hand-folding. Photo credit: Ben Goudie
too often, working with member-growers who have been impacted by theft as we help them get connected via direct deposit to avoid suffering another loss. It proves that hard mail is not the safest option. The cost of printing and mailing checks is an increasing expense. One internal estimate notes that Blue Diamond spends at least $250,000 per year just to mail checks. This includes postage, equipment maintenance, and supplies. Not included in this estimate, is labor cost and time spent away from other duties which is the largest impact to the Grower Accounting Department. One additional aspect is the maintenance of the sophisticated large-scale printing and mailing equipment that must be serviced regularly, which comes at a significant annual cost. Unfortunately, just recently we had our mailing machine break down while running our recent January progress payment this year. A part was needed that had to be shipped in from out of state, which would have caused a several day delay. Yet, we had to make the payment so that meant all hands on deck. We mustered a large group of staff, eight people in total combined from the Grower Accounting and
Accounts Payable departments, to hand-stuff thousands of envelopes. Amazingly, the team got it done on time and no payments were delayed! Direct Deposit Statistics How does Blue Diamond compare to other cooperatives and grower marketing organizations ? Currently, Blue Diamond has only 51% of all payees enrolled in direct deposit. By comparison, other peer cooperatives such as Ocean Spray has a 92% adoption rate, with Land O’ Lakes at 95%. Some private marketing companies such as Driscoll’s require 100% adoption. To give you an additional reference point, Blue Diamond has been leading the behavior internally as well. Our employees have a 99% participation rate for direct deposit for payroll with 95% receiving paperless paystubs by email. Additionally, 89% of Blue Diamond ’s vendors require electronic payment.
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