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Food Co-ops Lead Industry in 2023 Sales of Local, Organic and Fair Trade

By Kelly Kristl|2024-04-23T18:42:38-04:00April 23rd, 2024|

Community-owned grocery stores last year led all food retailers nationwide in percentage of sales derived from local, organic and fair-trade foods and products. In fact, the average food co-op grocery store on average sources products from 169 local farms and producers. Read the details on the vast and generous impact locally-owned food co-op grocery stores have on food systems in general and their local communities in particular. The report comes from National Co+op Grocers, which represents 161 food co-ops with 1.3 million U.S. member-owners and combined annual sales of $2.5 billion.

A Healthy Deli, Part 2: Evaluating the food service department

By Mike Houston|2024-01-24T18:08:40-05:00December 17th, 2023|

Tomlin’s on-site evaluation of the deli department and the existing conditions helps to set a baseline for what is working and what systems need to be adjusted or created. Her experience both in kitchens and as a general manager (GM) herself gives her the ability to translate what she sees to what the GM needs to learn to see. “It can be small things that tell you big things. Is silverware stocked? If not, that means the deli (staff) hasn’t come out to refresh the salad bar in a while,” Tomlin explains.

Retail Grocery Trends Facing Leaders Right Now

By Jeanie Wells|2023-12-19T12:27:11-05:00December 2nd, 2023|

Heading into 2024, grocery retailers need to understand the trends they face in today's marketplace. Being a leader in an independent grocery store has always been difficult. Our business model itself is brutal, and the competitive landscape is fierce. Adding to the difficult business climate, the pandemic brought with it additional crises—many of which we are still navigating as business leaders—that intensified the pressure on independent grocers’ performance.

A Long Road of Cooperation: Revisiting Vernon Oakes

By Kelly Kristl|2023-12-05T15:47:20-05:00October 4th, 2023|

I enjoyed interviewing Vernon Oakes and asked him a few questions about his remarkable career. Vernon, tell us a few things to help Columinate readers know you better: people and places that are most important to you. My parents, Odell Oakes Sr. and Florrie Smith Oakes, met while serving in the US Army during World War II and married in New York City, where I was born. We later moved to Bluefield, West Virginia. I attended public schools, and due to a speech impediment, I was put in a “special ed” class in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Words and reading didn't come naturally to me, and reading still isn’t my favorite thing. But math made sense and would later help me to make sense of life and the business pursuits I had. School was tough due to the added factor of racism and integration in 1955, when I was entering the 3rd grade.

Marketing in the Co-op Matrix

By Rebecca Torpie|2023-08-29T15:59:08-04:00August 29th, 2023|

The board and general manager need to become literate around the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspects of the marketing field. Marketing is often at the top of the list of operational tasks that become part of the discussion at meetings of the board of directors. Topics can range from the quality of the marketing to the board feeling it’s not plugged in enough when engaging with owners through marketing channels. Marketing issues are often of concern—whether warranted or not—to boards and individual directors.

Welcome, Sarah Lebherz! Sharing pro formas, feasibility, and fun with numbers

By Allison Meyer|2023-07-19T18:57:54-04:00July 19th, 2023|

Sarah Lebherz passionately stewards the cooperative business model as a seasoned cooperator with deep roots in her home town. Equipped with years of financial management and expansion project expertise, she has found fresh purpose in pro forma and budget development with colleagues at Columinate.

Award to Rebecca Torpie: Top Women in Grocery

By Kelly Kristl|2023-07-10T17:07:17-04:00July 10th, 2023|

The Progressive Grocer Top Women in Grocery (TWIG) is a prestigious award giving industry recognition to grocery retail leadership, and this year's list includes one of Columinate's own, Rebecca Torpie. TWIG awards are granted annually to a generous number of women in a huge and diverse industry, from team leaders and store managers to senior executives. The 2022 awards were announced in June 2023.

Welcome! Lisa Malmarowski and Pam Mehnert, Flying Squirrel Milwaukee LLC

By Thane Joyal|2023-06-27T14:59:57-04:00June 27th, 2023|

Sometimes the road to Columinate is a direct line, and sometimes it’s a leisurely path with many twists and turns. For Lisa Malmarowski and Pam Mehnert of Flying Squirrel Milwaukee LLC, joining Columinate has been a logical extension of the work each of them has been doing at Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee. They have been sharing their skills with fellow cooperators for years, putting into practice the cooperative principles of education and cooperation among cooperatives.

Jeanie Wells’ Mighty Community Markets Wins Innovation and Achievement Award

By Kelly Kristl|2023-06-19T17:47:05-04:00June 19th, 2023|

Independent grocers and co-ops face formidable challenges to survival, from WalMart to dollar stores, while often lacking the resources they need. Columinate's Jeanie Wells is providing these retail operations with essential skills and tools. At the June 2023 CCMA conference, Wells' Mighty Community Markets (MCM) training program was held up to its national audience as an outstanding example of cooperative innovation and achievement. (Go [...]

Ari Derfel: It’s Fine to Love Finance!

By Mike Houston|2023-06-21T14:44:17-04:00June 15th, 2023|

Ari Derfel has been advocating for natural and organic foods for the past few decades. He’s been translating his personal values of sustainability and food justice into business practices.

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