General Manager’s Blog
by Kenna S. Eaton
Each month, I report to the board on how we are progressing on our long-term goals, which we call our Ends. These Ends reflect our aspirations—what we want to accomplish—and they are what makes us different from a regular grocery store. We publish these reports as a blog to keep our member-owners up to date on what we are doing.
Peaches are in this week from Tonnemaker farm! Get them while you can.
The reports are organized by our five Ends, although not all are discussed in every report. Our Ends say that, as a result of all we do—
- Our community is well-served by a strong cooperative grocery store, integral to the lives of our customers, our farmers, and our producers.
- Our community has a resilient local and regional food economy, supported by our Co-op and our community partners.
- Our staff and board have the knowledge, skills, and passion to make our cooperative thrive.
- Our members and customers are proud to shop at a local cooperative grocery that is working to reduce its impact on the environment.
- Our community is informed, engaged, and empowered to join us in making a difference.
September General Manager’s Report
Working Together to Nourish our Community
Market Relevance
Summer is serious fun at the Co-op, from fresh fruit to fresh treats—and fresh faces! To help keep everyone in the summer mood, we offered an awesome Buy One Get One Free (BOGO) deal of Nixie Sparkling water (organic!), Endangered Species chocolate (perfect for s’mores), Elizabeth brand granola (yummy anytime), and Garden of Life chips (small size and perfect for deck snacking). We’ve also been offering wonderful cantaloupe and watermelons, organic and super sweet from Walchli, a Hermiston, Oregon, based grower, family owned for over 60 years.
We’ve been selling Rebel Crunch, a non-traditional granola made without honey or oil—and only five ingredients—from Blue Heron Bakery in Olympia for over 40 years. And in fact, Rebel Crunch was one of our very first Co+op Basics back when we called the program “Market Basket.” So we were truly excited to hear that this August the bakery converted to a cooperative ownership structure, which will have both consumer and worker membership classifications.
Food System Development
Meghan from Hopscotch Farm
We have new seasonal Local 5 jams from Hopscotch and Soul Cedar Farm: raspberry-quince, peach-cardamom, and rhubarb-mint. Our newest 50th anniversary product, Midori Golden Beet-Shallot Kraut, is just in and featured in the lobby cooler. Slightly sweeter that some krauts, it pairs super well with Mystery Bay Chevre.
And we have a few Local WA brands returning to our shelves: Bow Hill Blueberry items, San Juan Island Sea Salt, and Pixie Honey. We have been expanding the products we order through the Puget Sound Food Hub, which now includes Bow Hill and Juan Island Sea Salt. New to the cheese case is Cascadia Creamery Cloud Cap cheese. It is certified organic and made from A2 raw milk. (The proteins differ between A2 and A1 milk, which can affect digestibility. Check Cascadia’s website at https://www.cascadiacreamery.com/beyond_organic.html.) The creamery is in Trout Lake, near Mt. Adams, and has a unique aging facility in lava tube caves.
Thriving Workplace
The store is still running low on staff hours, so everyone’s been working super hard this summer to keep the shelves and cases well stocked. The finance team held another staff BBQ in the courtyard at the end of July. Everyone working that day got a choice of beef, turkey, or veggie burger, plus chips, a drink, and a treat. Many thanks to Tony, Kristina, and Crystal for feeding us so well.
Staff benefits are an important facet of our compensation philosophy—employee wellbeing is not only integral to the work we do daily, but helps us support all our Food Co-op values: respect, inclusion, participation, integrity, love, stewardship, and resiliency. HR is working on the benefits for 2023 with a couple of new initiatives, including additional Paylocity capacity with its benefit module. Employees can easily access the integrated Paylocity “dashboard,” a self-service portal, which is also available through the app on their phones. Starting this month employees are able to clock in and out of their shifts using the same app, if they want.
PT Potential, check them out!
Environment
PT Potential started taking our plastic produce boxes and beer can holders to shred in August. You can also find them the third Saturday of every month at the south side of the Co-op, out by the courtyard. They welcome everyone to bring their plastic bottle caps and can holders for shredding and repurposing. You’re also welcome to pepper them with questions—they love to talk plastic.
Outreach
August was full of sponsored events, including the NW Herbal Fair, the All-County Picnic, a community build project at the JUMP playground at HJ Carrol Park, and a Marine Science Center fundraiser, to name a few. We also launched our second Community Cook with a Greek Cuisine recipe book. And last but not least, the board demoed some of our 50th Anniversary collaborative products, including the newly released Midori Golden Beet Kraut.
