October 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.
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.
October General Manager’s Report
Working Together to Nourish our Community
Market Relevance
The grocery system is still being greatly disrupted by global events, which makes us doubly glad for our local producers and excited to support them however we can. This year, we participated in the 3rd annual Eat Local First Month Olympic Peninsula campaign, where we shared stories online, in our newsletter, and in the Leader. We provided fresh copy and information each week promoting the importance of local food production as well as links to the WA State Food and Farm Finder. We also sponsored the 20th annual Jefferson County Farm Tour to provide a fun, exciting weekend full of self-guided tours and events at farms throughout our county.
Food System Development
We are excited to have Cape Cleare and KatFish back from their summer fishing season and we know our customers will be excited, too! We have Cape Cleare products back on the shelf now, and KatFish will be available in mid-October.
We have a new CB’s peanut butter on the shelf: organic Creamunchy salted peanut butter. That isn’t a typo, it really is labeled “creamunchy”! Now you can choose your favorite, with or without salt.
BluJay continues to bring us new flavors of kombucha – the newest are elderflower hop and vanilla orange. We also have Iggy’s seasonal kombucha, linden flower. Plus, now is the time for Oktoberfest beers and new on the shelf is Echoes Oktoberfest Marzan out of Poulsbo.
Bread—We have a number of changes with our local breads. Pane d’Amore is delivering just five days a week but bringing more bread overall. Both Oaty and Grandma’s deli loaves have returned to the shelves. White Lotus is now able to bring us more bread so we have product through the weekend. Unfortunately, Essential Baking has cancelled their deliveries to the peninsula due to a driver shortage, so we can no longer get their fresh bread. However, we are still able to get their ready-to-bake breads from other distributors.
Thriving Workplace
With changes in August to the Covid-19 recommendations from the CDC and Jefferson County, HR spent time the last month researching those changes and talking with the Co-op’s Leadership Team and the Jefferson County Covid Response Team in order to update to the Food Co-op’s Covid-19 processes. Those changes necessitated updates plus more training for the Person In Charge (PIC) team, as well as creating well-crafted communication to meet the needs of PICs, managers, and employees. We posted additional information in Paylocity (for staff), updated our daily screening questions, and sent information from the County Health Department home with employees.
Environment
This year, with the high price of diesel as an added incentive, we opted to replace the annual “turkey truck” with an electric storage cooler. We are installing a new 3-phase power outlet on the south side of the building and hope to recoup that investment in the reduced cost of running the cooler for two months. Not to mention we’ll produce less greenhouse gas emissions—totally a “win-win” for us and the environment. The turkeys are scheduled to arrive in early November, and no special orders are needed as we’ll have plenty for everyone to chose from.
Outreach
The fall issue of Around the Table was available in late September. While we still insert copies into the PT Leader and have them available in the store, our online version has gotten a great upgrade and is now even easier to read. Called a “flip book,” it lands on the screen looking very much like the hard copy. With a wide range of articles focusing on local farmers, our community, and great food, it’s only one of the many ways we build community.
