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

Sat Apr 7 12:09:57 PDT 2007

Thanks for posting this article, Bill.

I can remember the old Moscow Food Co-Op (located on Third Street, I think,
back then) could fit in today's Moscow Food Co-Op's parking lot twice over.

As the saying goes:

You've come a long way, baby.

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007) 

  _____  

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Bill London
Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2007 11:44 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Spokesman-Review article on Moscow Food Co-op

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
<http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news/bylines.asp?bylinename=Becky%20Kramer>
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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