January GM Report
by Kenna S. Eaton, General Manager of The Food Co-op
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.
January Update on Store and Progress on Ends
Working Together to Nourish our Community
Store Update
December was another busy month for the store, as we helped people find just what they needed to celebrate the holidays, resulting in record breaking sales on Christmas Eve.
We are adding two new organic olive oils from Palestine by Canaan Fair Trade, Jenin & Nabali. Canaan works with over 1,000 artisan family farms spanning across 43 different villages.
Ends Update
Local
Regional egg supplies were erratic over the holidays, mostly due to avian flu. Closer to home, egg suppliers rushed to fill the gaps but were challenged to keep up with the demand, especially for large eggs. Luckily, we were able to source medium eggs while we wait for the birds to mature and lay the larger eggs.
Local 5: We added two seasonal flavors of Goodness Tea Chocolates: Honey Ginger, made with SpringRain ginger, and Nettle leaf/seed.
Local WA: We have several fresh pastas from Manini’s. Our newest variety is tortelloni, which is both gluten- and dairy-free.
People
HR is looking forward to new trainings and additional benefits for staff in 2025. A new addition to our already robust benefits for staff is a membership with the ZEV Co-op, an electric car share cooperative. This program allows our staff to rent a zero-emission car or van at their convenience at member prices. ZEV’s mission is “To improve people’s lives through better mobility.”
We are also looking forward to working with local equity expert Beau Ohlgren as we develop new trainings for our staff which we think will help our efforts to make the store a more hospitable environment to work and shop in. Additionally, starting in the new year, we are now offering a BIPOC Affinity Group for our staff. And in mid-January, our managers are attending a “Workplace Harassment Awareness: DEI Focused.” The aim of anti-harassment training is to encourage mutual understanding, sensitivity, and respect among employees.
We are excited about the team we have working in the store, plus we have some great tools to help make the Co-op the best place to work and shop in town.
Planet
For as long as I can recall, The Food Co-op has had a “certified organic” produce department. In fact, we had the only one on the Olympic Peninsula. Why was this important? The certification meant that we had been inspected by the WSDA and they verified that we were maintaining the organic chain from field to distributor to trucker to retailer to the customer. Now USDA organic regulations no longer require retailers to be certified handlers in order to sell products with organic claims, and due to high demand, the WSDA has decided to limit their resources to business that require certification and will no longer offer this service to retailers. This means as of January 1, 2025, we can no longer lay claim to being “certified organic” and must remove any reference to that claim in our store and marketing materials.
So, what will change? We will be taking down the word “certified” from the white beam above produce and removing references to being “certified” in our materials. What won’t change? Our commitment to organic and maintaining that chain of integrity within our operations.
Many thanks to our community and all our staff for helping us have another wonderful year, and may 2025 be another great year for the community-owned grocery stores in Jefferson County—that is, us and Nordland General Store, the second cooperative market in our corner of the world. Cooperation is truly radical!
Yours in community,
Kenna