Starting tomorrow, June 19th, we will no longer require fully vaccinated people to wear a face covering while shopping at the co-op. In accordance with CDC recommendations, people who are not fully vaccinated should still mask up while in the store. In addition, our employees will all continue to wear masks during their shifts, and we encourage customers to be considerate of their immunocompromised neighbors and put on a mask for the short time you are in our store if at all possible.
As we have done throughout the pandemic, we consulted with local health authorities to be sure that our decision makes sense. Given Fairbanks’ low COVID-19 case rate and increasing vaccination rate, we feel confident that this is the best course of action for now, and we were encouraged to hear that the doctor we consulted agrees.
We will continue to follow the state’s COVID-19 reports, and if cases suddenly increase again, we will reinstate the mask requirement for the safety of our staff and our community.
Thank you to everyone who has treated our employees kindly and sacrificed comfort for the sake of community. And we are especially grateful to our staff for sticking with us through a challenging and sometimes frightening year and a half.
Stop Anti-Asian Violence.
We stand in solidarity with our Asian American and Pacific Islander staff, Owners, customers, and community. We denounce racism and white supremacy. We recommit ourselves to making Co-op Market a safe and inclusive space for all members of our community.
Like cooperatives everywhere, we embrace Concern for Community as one of our core principles. We believe we all have the capacity — and responsibility — to effect change.
What can you do? Here are a few resources to counter racism, support Asian Americans, and help communities heal.*
• Learn the basics of bystander intervention. This site provides training on how to protect your neighbors and co-workers when bias and harassment occur in front of you. For the basics on bystander intervention, click here.
• Support allies of the Asian community with your dollars. One example is the Asian Pacific Fund’s Solidarity Fund, which specifically goes to organizations working to address anti-Asian sentiment.
• Take a stance on social media. Use the hashtags like #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate.
*Thank you to National Co+op Grocers for identifying these resources.
Black Lives Matter.
Social Responsibility – We believe that our actions must benefit the global community at large. This means that we promote justice and equity in all of our relationships and are committed to the people who use and work for our business. – Co-op Market Statement of Values
Like all cooperatives, our store was founded upon the principles of equity, democracy, and concern for community. In envisioning our store as a force for good, we have encoded social responsibility into the statement of values that forms the framework for all of our decisions and actions.
If those principles and values are to be anything more than mere words, we cannot remain silent in the face of injustice.
We stand in solidarity with people in our community and across the nation who are mobilizing for justice in the murder of George Floyd. We must end the systemic, institutionalized racism that has brutalized countless black, indigenous, and people of color before him.
Fairbanks can seem very far removed from events that dominate the national news, but as we witnessed Saturday’s peaceful demonstration Downtown, we recognized that too many people in our own community are hurting. We grieve with them, but that is not enough.
We are donating $300 each to the Fairbanks chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Native Movement, a local grassroots organization addressing critical issues facing our indigenous community.
However, money alone cannot solve such deep-rooted problems. As a food co-op, we know that in a just and equitable society, everyone has access to good, healthy food. We are committed to working with these groups and others to find meaningful, concrete ways to address food justice and food insecurity here, where we live. Our conversations with them are just beginning.
We also want to challenge our Owners and shoppers to take action.
Inherent to the cooperative business model is the concept of voting with your dollars. We challenge you to spend your money in a way that reflects your values: Support those businesses that build your community in a just and sustainable way, and actively support those that are black- and indigenous-owned.
We encourage you to donate your time and money, stay informed, and vote for officials who are dedicated to reform. Listen and learn. Together, we can achieve a more just, equitable, peaceful community.
Board of Directors, Management and Staff
Co-op Market Grocery & Deli
“We must all take action to dismantle systemic racism and create a more inclusive and equitable culture that welcomes, values and empowers all people.” Statement on the Murder of George Floyd and Racial Equality, National Co+op Grocers
A Message to Our Owners About the Health of Our Co-op
from the Board of Directors and General Manager:
As a community-owned cooperative, our health and wellbeing are inextricably entwined with the health and wellbeing of our community. When people in our community thrive, our cooperative grows and thrives. If our community suffers – whether because of financial and economic uncertainty or natural disaster – our cooperative naturally feels the impact, too, as people spend less money.
Because of our state’s current political and economic upheaval, we are concerned about the wellbeing of our co-op community.
Although we don’t yet know the final outcome, we do expect significant changes in funding for everything from agricultural programs to food and shelter for our most vulnerable citizens. In the meantime, we know that many of our Owners and shoppers are already experiencing economic hardship and anxiety about the future.
As for the co-op, after 2018’s tremendous 14% sales growth, we are now experiencing declining sales (down 3% from last year). Although we are still a healthy, viable business, we are concerned about what the future may hold.
We are committed to supporting our local economy, fostering food security, and making healthy, nutritious food affordable and accessible to everyone. As a cooperative, we have built a business model that includes many initiatives to support these things, including:
• Preferred purchasing from local farmers and producers. Our purchasing priorities are 1. Fairbanks and surrounding area, 2. Alaska grown and produced, and 3. organic and natural products from the distributors that serve our national cooperative.
• Lend a Hand and Shop & Share. These programs give our shoppers an easy way to share their resources with community nonprofits and people in need.
• Donating surplus food. We avoid food waste by donating out-of-date useable food to Breadline’s Stone Soup Cafe and the Fairbanks Community Food Bank. We also offer compostable food waste to local farmers and gardeners.
• Co+op Basics. More than 100 of our organic and natural items in every department are affordably priced every day. These items have purple price tags and are priced to compete with store-branded products from other stores – and they’re often of higher quality.
What else can we do?
One concrete step we can take right now is to make it easier to become a Co-op Market Owner.
Making Ownership more accessible will allow more people to enjoy money-saving benefits, including monthly Owner Deals and, five times annually, 10% off one shopping trip. And increasing Ownership is good for the co-op: The more of us there are, the stronger we are and the more positive impact we can have on our local economy.
Effective immediately, we are reducing the required initial Ownership investment from $25 to $10. Full investment remains at $200. We will ask Owners who are not paid in full to make regular quarterly payments of at least $5 toward their full investment to be considered in good standing. Owners must remain in good standing to continue to receive discounts and vote in our board election.
We will be exploring other options in the future, and we welcome your suggestions. Please feel free to attend one of our regular monthly board meetings at 6 p.m. every 2nd Monday at the Literacy Council. Or email us at board@coopmarket.org and gm@coopmarket.org.
What can you do as an Owner?
• Continue to shop at the co-op. We know there are other choices out there, and as expected, Costco has taken a bite of our sales. We know that it may be easier and, for some specific items, less expensive to shop at a big box store. But our relationship is just that: a relationship. We cannot survive without you.
• Talk to your friends, neighbors and coworkers about your co-op. Many people still don’t know that we exist, or that you don’t have to be an Owner to shop here. People are much more likely to patronize a business when it is recommended by someone they know and trust. You can help us grow simply by talking about us.
• Get involved. Whatever your political persuasion, we encourage your civic engagement. We the people are the government, whether of the state or nation or even the co-op. Our government only works for people when people take action: Learn about the issues. Communicate with your representatives. Vote. Consider running for office or for a seat on our board.
Unlike large corporations, we don’t have outside investors who can inject temporary funding to tide us over in hard times. Also unlike those corporations, we are here to stay. We are committed to doing all we can not only to ride out these turbulent times, but to be a source of stability and a place where community can come together to solve problems. After all, it took powerful, sustained effort from many people to make the dream of a cooperative grocery store become a reality. The energy is there, and we hope you’ll help us harness it.
Thank you for your continuing support as we navigate these difficult times. We treasure your loyalty and confidence, and we know that difficulty often brings opportunity. As your representatives on the co-op’s board of directors and as your general manager, we commit to deliberate and careful actions to ensure that we maintain our role as your source of healthful foods. The wellbeing of our community members and the health of our business will always guide our decisions.
In cooperation,
Board of Directors:
Art Gelvin
Brian Kassof
Anduin McElroy
Chase Nelson
Madeline Patterson O’Dell
Rich Seifert
Hilary Shook
Jodi Tansky
General Manager
Mary Christensen
Paper or Plastic? Neither.
Co-op Market shoppers are a conscientious lot. Over the years, more and more of you have made it a habit to avoid waste by bringing your own reusable shopping bags. In fact, according to our recent Shopper Survey, 51% of you say you always bring your own bags, and 28% frequently do.
We’re proud to say we’ve never offered plastic grocery bags at the co-op, but we do go through a lot of paper bags: nearly 52,300 last year alone. Those bags, which may be used just one time, often for only a few minutes, cost the co-op more than $13,000 last year.
In some ways, paper may seem more environmentally friendly than plastic, which is made from petroleum. But paper bags come with their own (ahem) baggage.
Did you know it takes about four times as much water to make a paper bag as a plastic bag? And the fertilizers and other chemicals used in tree farming and paper manufacturing contribute to acid rain and water pollution.
Sustainability is part of our mission as a co-op. We are committed to being good stewards of planetary and fiscal resources. For this reason, we’ve decided to start charging 25¢ for paper bags starting Friday, April 5. This charge applies only to the heavy paper bags with handles, and it is the actual cost of the bags, not including freight.
Our shoppers who use SNAP will be exempt from the bag charge, as we know EBT will not pay for it.
As always, we want to offer options and alternatives.
- We’ve just set up a shelf in the entryway with cardboard boxes, free for the taking. Use a box. Save a bag! The grocery business generates a huge amount of cardboard waste. By reusing the boxes we receive in freight, you’re helping extend the life of precious resources.
- We always have reusable shopping totes for sale – including the green Bagitos with our raven and pea logo. Not only are those incredibly durable, but they also hold as many groceries as at least two paper bags. Best of all, they’re made from recycled plastic bottles, and Bagitos donates profit to support environmental education for school kids.
- Alaffia Fair Trade market baskets, handmade by women in Ghana and Togo of sustainably harvested grasses, make beautiful and sturdy grocery totes.
- Don’t forget: You can also eliminate single-use plastic bags by bringing your own clean containers for shopping in Bulk. Just ask a cashier to take the tare weight before you fill them. And you don’t have to use a plastic bag for Produce: Bring your own bag – or don’t bag it at all. It isn’t necessary.
- We’re exploring possible options for a free reusable bag exchange. We hope to set something up as soon as we we get the logistics worked out.
To help you with the transition away from paper bags, we’re planning to hold a BOGO sale on our reusable bags. Look for more details soon.
Can small acts save the planet?
“One bee is an annoyance, but a swarm is a game changer. Small acts in big amounts are a force to be reckoned with.”
Want to win $100 in Co-op Cash? Tell us what you think.
Want a chance to win $100 in Co-op Cash? Just give us your opinions and 20 minutes of your time. We want to hear what we’re doing well, what needs improvement, and any other comments and suggestions you may have.
We’ll ask about your shopping patterns and your satisfaction with the co-op. There’s also a section specifically for Owners and a series of demographic questions that are entirely voluntary. Many questions have space for your comments, too.
Our Shopper Survey ends March 1st and is open to anyone who shops at Co-op Market. Access the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XVJGLWV
(If the survey link does not work when you click it, please try copying it and pasting it into your browser. If that doesn’t work, please contact Kristin Summerlin, Marketing & Owner Services Manager, at marketing@coopmarket.org).
Listening Sessions: You Can Help Us Plan for the Future
What do you value about your co-op? When you think about Co-op Market in five years, what do you envision? If you shop at the co-op, our board of directors and management want to hear from you.
Our doors have been open for five years now! Before that we spent six years preparing to open.
Since opening we’ve grown from $2.5 million to almost $4 million in annual sales.
We work with 52 local vendors and are looking for more.
We opened our doors because of you. More than 115 co-op Owners made loans to help us open, and more than 3,700 Owners have invested in our co-op through member equity.
We will be paying back loans for a few more years, so it isn’t quite time to begin planning for expansion. But now is the time for the board and management to start working on a five- to 10-year strategic plan.
Your input will help us hammer out our core values and craft a shared vision. You can help create the framework for making important decisions about our co-op’s future.
As part of its strategic planning process, the board is hosting a series of listening sessions. Please join us on one of the following dates for good food and conversation about the future of your co-op.
• Sunday, April 22, 5 to 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, June 5, 4 to 7 p.m. (Postponed. New date to be announced.)
• Tuesday, July 31, 1 to 4 p.m
All sessions will be held at JP Jones Community Development Center, 2400 Rickert Street.
For more information on the listening sessions and strategic planning process, please email Anduin McElroy, board chair, or Mary Christensen, general manager.
Everyone is welcome!
Worried about Sam’s Club closing? We can help.
With the announcement that Sam’s Club will close its doors at the end of the month, many people are worried about the negative impact on restaurants and small businesses in our community. We understand the concern and know this will affect not only restaurants and businesses, but also people with large families, those who live in the Bush, and many military families.
We can help.
Special Order Discounts
You probably already know that you can save money by shopping in our Bulk Foods aisle. But did you know that you can get a discount when you order staples in bulk or cases of the groceries on our shelves? Owners receive a 10% discount on special orders, but anyone can place a special order and receive a 5% discount. (These discounts apply to non-sale items.)
Stretching Co+op Deals Sales
If you’re familiar with our twice-monthly Co+op Deals flyer, you know that these sales represent significant savings. Did you know you can special order cases of these items anytime during the flyer period and receive the sale price, no matter when the product actually arrives in the store? This is a great way to take advantage of special pricing to stretch your grocery budget.
Case Pricing on Overstock
From time to time, we do find ourselves with overstock. We will offer case pricing on these items, while supplies last. Look for them on the back endcap near the dairy products. (We’re setting it up with some Bob’s Red Mill products later today.)
Business Accounts
If you’re a fully invested co-op Owner who also owns a small business or restaurant, we can help you source high quality organic and natural products for use in your business. We can offer bulk bags or cases of products, including fresh produce, at our cost, including shipping, plus 20%. If you purchase items for your business from our shelves (rather than ordering by the case), we offer a 10% discount.
This offer is only extended to licensed businesses that use the products for resale. Eligible businesses include small restaurants, bed & breakfasts, inns and tour operators – any small business that purchases groceries for large groups of people. (Business discounts only apply to groceries used for business. Family groceries must be purchased at our regular prices.)
You can find our business account application here.
We do understand the gap Sam’s Club’s closing creates. We also see it as an opportunity to do more for our community. We’re exploring ways to offer even more savings and benefits to bridge that gap. And because we’re a community-owned grocery store, we don’t have outside shareholders who would rather close a store to maximize profit at the expense of community. We belong to you, and we’re here to stay!
P.S. Don’t forget our annual Truckload Sale in May! We expect this year’s sale to be even bigger and better than ever!
Shipping Update: Our Shelves Are Filling Up
We’re happy to report that our freight is finally moving again, and we’ve been working hard to get the store shelves stocked full. On Wednesday, we received 9 pallets of groceries (as opposed to our usual 3 or 4). Busy stockers are happy stockers!
All of Alaska took notice when grocery shelves began emptying out last month. The breakdown of a cargo vessel at the port in Tacoma disrupted food deliveries to Alaska. When other stores were running out of meat, we were stocking our case with local beef and pork. And while we did run low on fruits and veggies, we took the opportunity to deep clean our shelves.
We also thought it was important to share information about the shipping delays with our customers.
Many people wondered why we were willing to talk to the media when the other stores wouldn’t or couldn’t. It’s simple: Our Owners are our friends and neighbors, not faceless shareholders who live far away. We are a part of this community, and we feel that it is important to share information with the community.
You’ve probably heard that 95% of our food must be barged and trucked in from Outside. It’s estimated that we have a 7-day supply of food in the state. Now that deliveries are getting back to a more normal schedule, it’s time to think about the implications. How can we Alaskans be more food secure and self-sufficient?
Here are some ideas.
- Support your local farmers. When you buy locally grown food, our farmers grow more of it, and we all benefit.
- Learn to preserve food when its abundant, whether by freezing, canning or pickling it. The UAF Cooperative Extension Service is a great resource.
- Keep a good supply of long-lasting staples on hand, such as rice, dried beans, powdered milk, canned goods.
- Grow your own garden. It will soon be time to start your seeds.
- Learn about where, when and how your food is grown and how it gets to you, so that you can make conscious, informed decisions about the things you buy.
Co-op Market exists, in part, to provide a viable marketplace for local agriculture, and we are doing that. Alaskans do love Alaskan products, and demand can quickly outstrip supply.
For example, we sell out of local eggs almost as soon as we get them. We would sell more if we could get more, but many small producers can’t afford to follow packaging regulations and other food safety rules. We need to find a way to build an agricultural infrastructure to make this easier and less expensive.
With the help of a USDA grant, we will soon begin work with UAF on a study to determine the feasibility of a mobile poultry processing facility. Such a facility would make it possible for us to sell local poultry at the co-op. Without a certified processor in Alaska, we currently cannot do this.
As a co-op, we believe that cooperation may hold the key to many of our food supply issues in Alaska. Local farmers could join together and create a cooperative kitchen certified for commercial use. Sharing the costs, farmers could create value-added goods, such as frozen fruits and vegetables. This would expand the market: We can’t buy and sell these goods unless they’re produced in a certified facility.
Seeing empty shelves in the stores was a shock to many of us. But it was also good for us. More Alaskans are aware of food security, and we’re talking about it. This is how change begins.
GM’s Response to Ms Magazine Debate
At the heart of every cooperative is the desire to build common ground for member-owners and customers regardless of their backgrounds and beliefs. Co-op Market Grocery and Deli is no different. We welcome everyone.
It is also important to understand that as operators of a successful business we work to choose natural and organic products we think our customers will want to buy. We welcome comments and suggestions. Anyone can fill out a comment card at the customer service counter and we will consider these suggestions in our decision making. At the end of the day our board of directors has delegated operation to a management team focused on making good buying decisions to serve the needs of our member-owners. Sometimes people ask us to stop carrying products that other people want to buy. This makes decision making a little harder.
When faced with such dilemmas I believe that it is important to consider what is most important to our co-op and why did we set out to open this store to begin with? Probably our most important goal throughout the development years was improving the local economy. Another goal is providing our member-owners with the healthiest and freshest food possible. We also want to be both economically and financially sustainable. Finally, we care about our community.
We are proud of the work we are doing to create local economy, especially in our meat department. This week we are increasing the amount of local beef we buy and we’ve added local pork. Reindeer, goat and buffalo are regular offerings. All of our fish and seafood is wild caught in Alaskan waters. Our chicken is from our neighbors in Washington (since there are no poultry processing facilities in Alaska). Soon we’ll see more and more local produce. Last year local produce accounted for 35% of produce sales. This year we hope to increase that to 51%. Local eggs have just hit the shelves and we hope to offer more. (Call our fresh foods buyer, Steven Vandermaas, at 457-1023 Ext 104 if you have local eggs to sell.). We offer coffee from two local vendors – Diving Duck of Fairbanks and Kaladi Brothers of Anchorage. You’ll also find local ice cream and milk and many other local products in our aisles.
Possibly our most delicious local food comes right out of our own kitchen! Our talented chefs create amazing soups, salads and sandwiches using local meats and seafood and fresh organic vegetables. Many vegetarian and vegan options are available as well. Currently we are looking for a double soup warmer so that meat eaters and vegetarians can both find the soups they crave.
Perhaps our most important goal is sustainability. How do we provide our community with a financially sustainable community grocery store that thrives for years to come? This was the question I was working on when the debate over Ms magazine came to my attention. We have recently joined National Cooperative Grocer’s Association and a Development Advisor spent a week here helping me to assess how we need to improve operations. We’re excited about the opportunity NCGA offers us. Coming in June you will see Co+op Deals throughout the store. You might even get a coupon book or sales flyer in the mail. NCGA also helps us to offer education, recipes and information about natural foods.
Concern for community is another goal near and dear to us. Last fall we started the popular Lend a Hand program that gives you the opportunity to round up at the register and help your favorite charity. Our member-owners and customers donated over $1500 to both Stone Soup Cafe (Breadline) and the Foodbank.
As cooperators we do not represent one political agenda. When we offer reading material that we think people will want to buy that does not mean that the opinions represented in the magazine are ours. We strive to offer a balance of reading material that interests our customers. You will find food, farming and exercise magazines, literary magazines, and both the New Republic and Ms. While we welcome suggestions, our professional staff makes the buying decisions for our store. We will not be voting on what magazines (or other products) to carry but ultimately, for member-owners, the best way to vote is by buying the products you like.
Again, what matters most at our co-op? Local economy, healthy food, sustainability and community.
Thanks,
Mary Christensen
General Manager
