By Zetty Nemlowill/Co-op Marketing Director
One reason I love my job is I truly believe in the Co-op; from local ownership to local food. It’s also great to work at a place everyone loves!
A complaint I still sometimes hear though, is that we’re too expensive, but we’re making some seriously impressive strides in this area. So I wanted to share with you a juicy little morsel: Not too long ago we tested $800 worth of same-product prices at a large grocery store in the area and came within 4%. I think for our little store that ROCKS!
An important aspect of growth and expansion is that the more we grow, the more we can lower prices. The more we purchase from our main distributors, the less we pay and the more savings we can pass on to you. We’ve been able to ripen our buying power through strategic sales growth and collaborating with other food co-ops from around the country.
Lower prices allow us to compete, survive and make a larger impact on the community including expanding the marketplace for local farmers and food & beverage producers. As a bonus to meeting your bottom-line, for every dollar you spend at the Co-op, 52ยข goes back into the local economy, which is huge!
So if you think the Co-op is too expensive, or if you know someone who does, please take another look and encourage your friends to do so, too. If you find a product that’s more expensive at the Co-op, let us know and we may be able to adjust the price. After all, you own this grocery store!
As we ramp up to build a much-needed bigger new store, we are prepared to compete: offering natural food groceries at competitive prices, but we’re going to do better than that. We will continue to go the extra mile to do the work we know you love: sourcing fresh local food from dozens of coastal growers and makers. Stuff you can only get by shopping outside the box.
As we prepare to compete with even more retailers, our bigger new store will help nourish our ability to serve you the great food you love in a better way than ever before.