July GM Update
by Kenna S. Eaton
Each month, I report to the board on what is happening in the store as well as our progress on our long-term goals, which we call our Ends. These Ends reflect our aspirations—what we want to accomplish—and they are part of 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.
Our Ends
The general manager strives to provide these benefits to our member-owners and community while operating a strong grocery store:
Strengthen and advocate for our local food system, with a vibrant culture of appreciation and support for local farms and producers.
Treat people well, increasing equity and access by providing a safe, welcoming, and educational environment.
Treat the planet well, by modeling environmental stewardship and regularly sharing our accomplishments and challenges with member-owners.
July Update on Store and Progress on Ends
Working Together to Nourish our Community
Store Update
A year ago, we began using a customer service rating tool named CX (Customer Experience), where shoppers are chosen at random to answer a survey. We have had phenomenal success with our shoppers participating, and the feedback has been very enlightening. In July customers rated us as “most improved” in three out of six categories: overall satisfaction, availability of products, and likelihood to recommend. Sales remain strong this summer, challenging the store to keep up, especially in the kitchen. Yahoo! Thanks for helping us improve PT!
We have eight new Field Day Co-op Basics items: five dressings, a mayonnaise, and milk and dark chocolate-covered pretzels. Also, paper plates and bowls are back in production and returning to our shelves. Our main refresh area this month is packaged dried fruit, nuts, and snacks, with a small touch up in nut butters with 16 new items in total.
We hosted a Wild Edibles class with Nancy Slick. Members met up in the courtyard to go on an urban walk, learning about which native plants are in season, edible, and worth foraging.
Finally, our long-awaited Little Free Cookbook Library is here! Located by the south exit door (in the dining area) this cute bookshelf is made entirely of salvaged wood and materials by Brian Stafford of Jefferson Timber Co-operative. Bring us a cookbook and check it out!
Ends Update
Local
We have two new local WA vendors - Steensma Creamery in Lynden and Creative Koji in Winthrop. Steensma Creamery is a fourth-generation dairy farm in Whatcom County. A new venture of theirs is Icelandic-style skyr yogurt. We have both plain and maple flavors, packaged in glass jars. Creative Koji is dedicated to crafting artisanal miso products using locally grown and organically sourced ingredients. They combine traditional techniques with innovative local flavors, offering high quality non-traditional and soy-free miso options. We will begin stocking two flavors, then rotate through other flavors monthly.
We have two new Local 5 vendors in produce. Space Twins Provisions in Beaver Valley is providing us with microgreens this year, along with Hope Rising. Lonely Pines Farm in Quilcene is growing garlic. We had garlic scapes earlier this season and look forward to their garlic and elephant garlic harvest later this summer.
People
The Food Co-op co-sponsored the annual PT Pride Fest and ventured out of the store to share our passion for great food and community. We hosted a PLINKO game full of fun, inspired prizes which was a hit and launched three pride-themed shirts that we sold at the festival and are now available in store. 🌈. Our LGBTQ affinity group held a staff-only BBQ in the courtyard at the end of June, and all staff received a T-shirt of their choice celebrating PRIDE month.
Our summer edition of Around the Table came out at the end of June. It includes our Annual Report, additional Woman Farmer Features, and some great summer recipes. And in June our Co-op community reached an incredible milestone with our Beans for Bags Program. For the first time in its history, more than $2,000 was raised and donated to local non-profits in a single month—dang, that’s a lot of grocery totes.
Board election season began with Cake with the Candidates so our members could get to know the board candidates before elections started on July 1st. Elections wrapped up July 15, with all three candidates elected.
Safety Update: Safety lines have been installed on our store rooftop, so with the addition of lanyard and harnesses, our staff will now be even safer when working on the roof.
With gratitude,
Kenn