General Manager’s Blog - October 2019
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 refreshed 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
Market Relevance
September was Emergency Preparedness month at the Co-op, a time when members can stock their pantries through special orders (SOs) at no additional mark up (based on UNFI buying club prices). By mid-month, SOs were crowding our new backrooms at an 81% increase over last year and 56% over projections! Way to go in being prepared, members!
New outdoor signage is in the works and should be installed by the time you read this. Look for a new “monument” sign, located at the south entry into our parking lot. Another new sign is planned by our main entry door, but we are still awaiting approval on that. Finally, new lettering will replace the existing yellow letters on the front of the building, completing our planned outdoor changes for 2019.
Food System Development
In mid-September, Dungeness Valley Creamery was awarded the North Olympic Land Trust’s Farmer of the Year for 2019. They were also honored with this award in 2007. We are proud to have long worked with the creamery, starting with helping them with the technical information they needed to get ready for retail sales, and we are honored to have carried this great product all these years.
Of the farms who participated in the Farm Tour this year (not all local farms participate), we purchase products from eight of them. Six of those provide us with wines, ciders, and meads, while Compass Rose and Sunfield provide us with occasional produce. We are also looking ahead to bringing in some meat products from “Yaks in the Cradle.”
In the last few weeks, we brought in ten new Local-Washington products. Sea Witch Botanicals from Bellingham has updated their incense packaging to all paper, no longer any plastic. We have five varieties in this new packaging. We also brought in five varieties of fresh pasta (not gluten free) made by Carso’s in Lynnwood. Carso’s makes our quiches, chicken pot pies, and breakfast turnovers. Check out their FOOD BLOG - delicious pasta ideas!
Thriving Workplace
Training for new and existing supervisors was back on the calendar in October with a five-hour mini workshop. Our Human Resources staff were also busy planning the all-staff fall meeting for Sunday October 27th. Led by facilitator Holly O’Neil, team members dug into how we bring our mission and values into our daily work. Note: the store closed early that night to allow all staff to attend this annual event.
At the meeting all staff members circled around the room in order of years worked. We had 20+ years joining together with a new two hour employee!
Environmental Stewardship
Another item from the 2018 Impact Report: We reduced the number of paper bags used and increased the number of beans we collected for re-used shopping bags and cups by 3%. 241,425 beans were collected! Through the Beans 4 Bags program we donated $12,071 to various local nonprofits, with the majority of those nickels going to the Jefferson County Food Bank, which serves four communities in our county, just one of the many ways we nourish our community.
Outreach
Reminder: It’s that time of year—nominate your favorite nonprofit for our award winning “Beans 4 Bags” program (see above). Each year we accept nominations from October to November 30. Our Community Engagement Committee is then tasked with helping us choose the recipients and those organizations are announced by the end of the year.
On September 10th, the Co-op hosted the Chamber of Commerce Mixer, an after-hours networking event, at the Annex. After the gathering, attendees were treated to a guided “behind the scenes” store tour, always a crowd pleaser.
