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.

February General Manager’s Report

Working Together to Nourish our Community

Market Relevance

The start of the new year was all about coping with extreme cold, snow, and ice—not to mention the Omicron variant of COVID. The harsh weather affected us in multiple ways, from cancelled deliveries to delayed trucks, from stuck-at-home shoppers to stuck-at-home staff. The floods deeply affected many dairy farmers, which in turn affected supplies of milk, which will in turn affect supplies of cheese. Portions of key access routes to PT were closed off, including I-5 and the passes to eastern Washington, all of which created delivery delays. And piled on top were shipping delays in ports, which means we continue to see rolling shortages of products, leading to empty spots on our shelves.

COVID-related staff “outs” throughout the supply chain are having multiple affects as well, from limited deliveries to late deliveries, or no deliveries at all. And in mid-January, we had an unprecedented number of our own staff call out for potential COVID exposure, putting even further stress on the system. I am pleased to report, however, that everyone who could pitched in to help out, from taking extra shifts to working longer shifts, to ensure we met customers’ needs as best we could. Staff also worked hard sourcing products from alternative suppliers. All in all, I think our team did a great job weathering the storms of January, and the majority of our shoppers were very appreciative of what we were able to achieve.

On a completely different note, I’m pleased to announce that we have new Co+op Basics items in produce: 3-pound-bags of Ladybug potatoes in red, Russet, and yellow. This deal was developed for co-ops by NCG (the national co-op of co-op groceries) in partnership with Organically Grown Company. The Basics price for Russets will be $3.49, with red and yellow running a bit higher at $4.99.

Food System Development

Fresh Breeze Dairy is unable to produce milk at this time. Fresh Breeze, located in Lynden, provided organic milk in glass jars, a staple for some of our customers. With all of the flooding, cold weather, staff out due to COVID, and equipment needing repair, they are taking time to focus on their cows.

Before the end of January, we will be adding smoked King and Coho salmon in cans from Smackdown to our shelves. We will also be bringing on two new vendors from Chimacum, Soul Cedar Farm and Olympic Salt. Both were part of the 2021 Chimacum Farmers Market, and they are reaching out to sell their products in the off season.

Thriving Workplace

In January, we were delighted to welcome Estelle to her new role of Float Manager. The float team has been invaluable over the past few years as we navigated the challenges of working under the pandemic. Floats are staff trained to work in multiple departments, so they can go where they are needed. The float department began with just a couple of staff working for the store manager, but we topped out at 26 floats at one moment in time! Recognizing the need, we created a float team leader last year and hired Estelle for that role. Recently, we realized that this team needed a single manager (and one who wasn’t managing multiple other teams) and so created the float manager position. We look forward to working more with Estelle as she develops her team in 2022.

And an anonymous member thanked our staff for their hard work in 2021 with gift certificates to a wide variety of local businesses, including restaurants, theaters, and fun experiences. Thank you~~~ We LOVE our members!

Outreach

Shirts, Sweatshirts, Hats—Oh, my! We released a new line of Co-op shirts to celebrate our 50th year of cooperation.

We also released our first collaborative products to celebrate our 50 years. From Two Crows Bakery, we have the “Golden Anniversary Fun-Fetti Vegan Cookie.” From Mountain Spirit Herbals, we have Golden Anniversary Amber Orange Massage Oil and Amber Massage Oil, reimagining Denise’s first products at the Co-op back in 1985! Look for more collaborations over the next few months.

And we had our first “Wellness Wednesday” member-only sale on the second Wednesday of the month. Members were super happy to save 15% on all supplements and personal care items. Mark your calendars for our next Wellness Wednesday, February 9th.