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 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.

June General Manager’s Report

This month everything continues to be all COVID-19 related. Since the outbreak, we have been challenged every day to keep up with business on all fronts. And we still need to be nimble to address the myriad concerns surrounding the outbreak, from making sure we have enough product on the shelf to ensuring that shoppers and staff feel safe in our store. Adjustments have been made weekly—and even sometimes daily—to ensure that we are following all state and federal regulations as well as CDC and DOH recommendations. A hearty THANK YOU once again to our board members who continued to organize volunteers during May, two days a week, to shop for and deliver to our members who were unable to do so for themselves.

Market Relevance

In mid April we launched Coop2Go, a curbside pickup service for members. We are still in the midst of developing an online e-commerce platform that will make ordering goods easier for shoppers, since we envision offering curbside grocery shopping beyond the COVID crisis.

May sales were good, with about 2/3 of the number of transactions we normally expect, and a moderate rise from April. With the increase in the number of shoppers, we decided to ask everyone to join us and “mask up” to help limit spread of the virus.

Supply chain interruptions continue to make it difficult for us to bring in our normal selection of products. We expect to see decreased options for the next few months to a year in several lines of packaged products, such as canned tomatoes, soups, mac and cheese, and other pantry staples. But we have been able to add another six Co-op Basics items, packaged rice and dry beans.

Food System Development

During the last month, we brought in six new Local 5 items, including three flavors of Elevated Ice Cream. You will also find eleven new Local WA items on our shelves, including Pizza’zza ice cream sandwiches from Bellingham, part of the Eat Local First campaign in Whatcom County. Right now, several small Washington breweries are packaging for retail brews that previously you would only find in restaurants. We are even getting great pricing on some beers that were previously sold at ball games or other events.

NEW in the deli: Made fresh in our kitchen are several sauces and marinades packaged in glass jars, such as Marinara, Schezwan, and Honey Dijon.

We continue to build our relationship with and order products from the Puget Sound Food Hub, which is delivering regional foods such as flour and cheese to us through Key City Distributors. We are looking forward to adding items as the months continue.

Product Research Committee note: One of the newer certifications for food is ROC, Regenerative Organic Certified, which focuses on soil health, animal welfare, and fairness. Dr. Bronner’s coconut oil and several other product lines on our shelves are a part of a pilot program for this certification. PRC will be learning more about ROC at their June meeting.

Thriving Workplace

We were given 500 reusable masks for our staff by FEMA. Masks came in packets of five and were manufactured by Hanes, the t-shirt company. Additionally, ten all-weather soft-shell Arc’Teryx jackets were gifted to the Co-op after we were nominated as Heroes by a super fan. Food Service and Grocery staff will wear them while working in the cold rooms.

We spent much of the recent months ensuring that our staff felt safe, that they were following all Health Department mandates in terms of reporting illness, that everyone was able to take leave as needed, and that open shifts were covered (with temporary staff). With the implementation of the CARES act, the leave entitlements got a bit more complicated to manage, but our HR and Finance team made sure we were following all requirements and still supporting staff. Many thanks to the temp staff who have helped us out through the recent months.

Outreach

Covid-19 has given us some different perspectives on community outreach, and we have been coming up with new, creative ways to engage the community. This month, our culinary educator, Sidonie, started an online “Cooking with the Co-op” Facebook Group, where they are sharing recipes, challenges, tips, and tricks.

And in response to the needs of farmers during the Covid-19 pandemic, the North Olympic Development Council (NODC), WSU Extension, North Olympic Land Trust, and Jefferson Land Trust created a Farmers Fund to help local farmers and also benefit area food banks. Naturally, we jumped at the chance to support this cause and donated $2,500.