[Vision2020] Spokesman-Review article on Moscow Food Co-op

[Bill London]

Spokesman-Review    April 6, 2007
Big digs reflect big changes at food co-op 
Moscow, Idaho, store adds meat section, bigger deli and broader consumer interest


            Arissa Fench, bottom left, and Kathleen Benton eat an organic lunch Monday at the Moscow Food Co-op in Moscow, Idaho. Sales have increased 42 percent in 2006 over the previous year at the co-op, with a total of $5.9 million in gross sales. (Photos by Amanda Smith The Spokesman-Review )
           

            At a glance 
            Moscow Food Co-op 
            Address: 121 E. Fifth St., Moscow

            Established: 1973, incorporated as a co-op in 1974

            Employees: More than 100

            2006 sales: $5.9 million
           
     

Becky Kramer 
Staff writer
April 6, 2007

MOSCOW, Idaho - The irony of running a natural foods co-op from a former Safeway store isn't lost on Kenna Eaton.

After years of cramped quarters, the Moscow Food Co-op moved into the 15,000-square-foot building in late 2005. The co-op doubled its space, added a meat department and expanded its deli. With wide aisles and bountiful produce displays, its looks sort of like, well, a mainline grocery store.

More telling yet, Eaton - the general manager - sees shoppers she doesn't recognize. And sales are up 40 percent.

"As we've grown up, I think our customer base has grown as well," Eaton said.

Without about 4,500 members, the co-op attracts an array of customers, including granola types, students, people with food allergies, vegans and the more casual shopper. Over the past decade, the ranks of customers have increased as national interest in locally produced and organically grown foods has picked up, Eaton said.

The Moscow Food Co-op's goal is to embrace the new shoppers coming through the doors while maintaining the close-knit feel of the co-op's early days, when such a small percentage of the population bought spelt flour and tofu that it created instant solidarity among shoppers

     
"There's sort of an artsy feel to the co-op, a real creative aliveness," said Chris Caudill, a University of Idaho researcher who was recently elected to the board. "We really want to continue to foster that, even as the co-op grows."

The co-op's recent move is an example of how the organization differs from big-box retailers, Eaton said. Board members had coveted the Safeway site for several years, but followed a fiscally conservative path. Moving into new rental quarters and stocking the store cost about $1 million. Members provided about half of the money through personal loans.

The move has paid off for the Moscow Food Co-op, which rang up $5.9 million in sales last year, a 40 percent increase over 2005.

"There's a whole stereotype of who shops at co-op," said Kimberly Vincent, a board member. "I see people who didn't feel welcome at the old building coming into the new one." 

The larger product lines also help attract shoppers who are used to a supermarket mentality, she said. "They feel it's worth their trip if they can pick up four or five things or a whole cartful, instead of just one item."

The co-op is a Moscow institution. It organized in 1974, shortly after the vegetarian primer, "Diet for a Small Planet," became a bestseller. 

"Being vegetarian was a relatively new concept," Eaton said. "It was an idealistic thing . People were living in teepees, getting back to the land. It was a small operation, but it grew."

The co-op also had its lean years, when only the dedication of the membership carried it through.

"In 1985, when Safeway put in the bulk bins, it just about put us out of business," Eaton said. 

"There were times when we wished just one more customer would come through the door and buy $5 worth of stuff."

Vincent started shopping at the co-op 19 years ago. "It was crowded, dark and tiny," she said. "The selection was mostly bulk foods . It was hard to get through the aisles. There weren't any carts."

As the co-op grew, it rented larger and larger spaces. But even the last location, an old Kentucky Fried Chicken, "felt cramped and it was still mostly bulk food," Vincent said.

The new location allowed the co-op to expand the deli, which is how many customers first taste some of the products. 

Kale slaw, for example, has become so popular that the deli carries it year-round. The co-op also serves a chocolate Dream Pie in which tofu is the main ingredient.

Recipes are posted on the co-op's Web site, and they help encourage sales as customers try new items, Eaton said. 

The move also gave the co-op room for a meat department, which sells grass-fed beef, free-range chickens and pork. For some of the co-op's vegan members, adding meat was a controversial step. 

"We had a backlash from some clients," Vincent said, "but I'm one who believes we need to have things for all types of shoppers and not just one belief."

Personally, Vincent said she was glad to have access to "clean meat," raised without hormones, steroids and dyes. A former vegetarian, Vincent said she had to start eating meat again to control her anemia but had trouble finding estrogen-free chicken.

The majority of the co-op's shoppers share a certain ethic about food. "They want to feel good about their purchases," Eaton said. "They want to know that they have less impact on the planet and on their bodies."

What people eat has a definite impact on the environment, Caudill said. Flying apples from New Zealand to North America uses a tremendous amount of energy. Raising beef consumes large amounts of water. Fruits and vegetables from Latin America may contain pesticides banned in the United States.

As the co-op expands its reach to attract more shoppers, it has to weigh all those factors, Eaton said.

"If we bring in those blueberries when they're out of season," she said, "there's a tradeoff."
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