By Kenna S. Eaton, General Manager of The Food Co-op

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.

June General Manager’s Report

Working Together to Nourish our Community

Market

Regular shoppers may have noticed several large gaps on our shelves this spring. Some of that, such as the Cascadian Farms cereal, has been due to packaging changes. Others have been due to changes in ownership or distributors. To help fill some gaps, we recently began working (again) with an additional distributor, Azure Standard, from Oregon. While we had an account with Azure previously and used it periodically during the pandemic, we didn’t have a steady product line to order from them. Azure has now purchased Sweet Creek Foods, both the business and the processing facility. Sweet Creek is well known for their work with farmers in their Oregon region to contract for ingredients to use in their pickles, salsa, jam, etc. Besides Sweet Creek products, Azure has several bulk items that have been unavailable from other vendors. We received our first delivery last week, so many Sweet Creek products are back on our shelves and those gaps are now filled. 

Food System

This month we have three new hot sauces from Hot Babe Hot Sauce, from Tumwater, which you may have tried at our 50th anniversary party last May. Check out their website for their story, including working with local farmers. We also added new flavors on the shelf for our local baker Two Crows, including pink lemonade cookies, and the Goodness Company has replaced their seasonal ginger-flavored chocolate bars (made with ginger from SpringRain Farm) with Olympic mint for the summer.

Here’s an update on our local egg story so far this year:  We’ve received over 2600 dozen eggs so far, almost identical to 2022. Thanks to our Local 5 egg producers—One Straw Ranch, Solstice Family Farm, Chimacum Eggs, Chicken & Egg—we have been pleased to offer a great selection of excellent eggs to our shoppers.

Thriving Workplace

Recently we refreshed our Food Service kitchen. In addition to newly repainted walls (and ceiling), we replaced the old plastic backsplashes with shiny stainless-steel ones. Not only do they look great, but they are also easier to keep clean. We gave all the equipment a thorough clean and polish, ensuring everything shines and functions at its best. The floor was buffed and sealed, giving it a pristine and fresh look.

But that's not all! We also created a new workstation, designed to enhance efficiency and organization. Based on staff feedback and ideas, we have new and easier storage solutions for tools and utensils for a smooth workflow and quick access to frequently used items. Our kitchen staff are thrilled to work in such a sparkling clean and maintainable space.

We owe a big thank you to our amazing Maintenance Team for their hard work in making this remodel a reality. We would also like to thank the kitchen staff who worked tirelessly at the Elks to prepare grab-and-go food for our customers during the shutdown. Your dedication is truly commendable!

Outreach

We have been working with the Port Townsend School District on a few projects to educate and inspire kids to eat more locally produced items. Salish Coast Elementary added a new garden to their campus, including a hoop house and a soon-to-be-added greenhouse, with the intention of growing vegetables for Port Townsend School District’s three campuses. Due to late completion of these buildings, they were unable to start their owns seeds, so we donated 125 veggie starts to help launch their operation.

The vegetables they grow will supplement summer school programs and the school cafeterias, nourishing our children with their own locally grown vegetables. Our Marketing Team designed and printed posters (see graphic below) that will be hung in all three school cafeterias with pictures of local food producers the schools source food from. Surprise, they are also vendors here at the Food Co-op.

We also took part in a yearlong mentoring program for 9th graders to teach them how to take something locally grown and create a value-added product from it to sell at Market Day (which took place on May 7). Students learned about budgeting, marketing, sourcing, and product packaging. This program will continue in years to come and has the potential to create some lifelong food entrepreneurs.

May also launched event season here in Port Townsend and we are sponsoring some BIG community events this summer, including the Cake Picnic and Chautauqua Week.