CORRECTION
In our February issue, the article Masala Mojo and Flavor Temptations: Indian Spice Kits incorrectly identified the person quoted from Masala Mojo. Her name is Mrunal Kulkarni.
Food scraps
Q: I’d like to see the coop address food scraps or food waste alongside a compost program for members. The coop ought to build an initiative program for Madison alongside collaborators who could live compost and or incinerate the organic materials for fertilizer. I hope a compost program will foster discussions of inequalities in our local food economy and steering other innovative solutions to better serving in our community.
A: Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate your interest in contemplating the local food system not just on the supply, but also on the waste end of the spectrum, as well as the inequities within the system as a whole.
The composting services we have are contracted by third parties (Sanimax and Earth Stew). They are for managing compost produced by food production, produce prep, and food purchased for dining in our retail commons. As much as we would love to consider expanding these services, we simply do not have the economic means, space, labor hours, nor expertise to build and manage a drop-off food composting program for the Owners or neighborhoods we serve. We also do not wish to compete with composting programs and initiatives that already exist (and we support).
The City of Madison lists a few companies that may be able to accept your compost for a fee here: www.cityofmadison.com/streets/food-scraps. Some of these private composting options are available in areas outside of Madison as well. Private compost collections are not a perfect solution, as one needs the means to pay for the service, but they are the most viable options currently available to the area at-large and the people offering the services do great work. Additionally, the City of Madison and Dane County are continuing to pursue and pilot composting programs through which the public can divert waste, programs which have seen success in other municipalities. The link provides information about the City’s public food scraps recycling initiative, something that looks like a promising option to offer what you describe in the future. -Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director
Old store memory lane
Q: Hello! I was just going down memory lane with my mom who use to take me to the old store as a kid and was wondering if there was a collection somewhere of the old store fronts /interiors? specifically the 1202 location! Thanks for all you do!
A: I combed through our photo archives and found a few I thought you might enjoy. Happy reminiscing! -Liz Hawley, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Product questions
Q: Hi, been adding up things I wanted to ask about, so here comes a few topics at once—hope that’s okay!
1. I love the Herbivorous Butcher products you’ve been carrying in the deli! Super excited about them—the beer brats, especially. I was wondering if there were any plans for them to be on the shopping site for delivery?
2. Was randomly remembering a deli/cold case item you used to carry years ago that I’ve been missing—the raw nut paté—and curious if that’s something that ever gets back into rotation or not.
3. I love that you are taking the issue of culturally appropriate foods seriously. I’ve noticed people seem to be upset about items being carried for these reasons and/or confused about what the phrase means and was hoping there either would be an article in the Reader explaining it in more detail, or perhaps there’s already been one that I’ve missed? Anyway, thanks for all that you do!!
A: Thanks for writing! Currently we only carry Herbivorous Butcher through our East deli, and our e-commerce platform is set up to shop our North location. We also, at this time, do not have the capability to include our Deli items on the shopping site. Should we be able to add the Deli in the future, and add Herbivorous Butcher as a line featured at North, we will certainly consider it. I checked in with our Prepared Foods Category Manager Patrick Schroder, and he says we are indeed discussing with Herbivorous Butcher extending its offering to other sites later this winter. I also asked him about the raw nut paté, and he said that we did produce this quite awhile back, and there are currently no plans for its return due to a lack of success producing dips and spreads in-house that remain competitive with other brands. I’m not sure if we still have the recipe available, but if you are interested, we can look it up for you.
Thank you also, for noticing our efforts to bring more culturally appropriate foods into our stores. We feel it’s really important to consider not only foods and goods that support local, organic, or natural producers, but also foods and goods that are fairly priced and accessible as well as of value to a variety of different families and their personal needs, tastes, and traditions. We have talked about the term “culturally appropriate foods” in the Reader in the past, but there’s no reason we couldn’t run something about the topic again. I will share your idea with our Newsletter Editor Liz Wermcrantz and Communications Director Brendon Smith as well as our Co-op Services and Purchasing teams for future Reader ideas. -Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director
Store Brand manufacturer
Q: Hello. Would you be able to tell me who manufactures your store brand Glucosamine/Condroitin/MSM tablet? And would you happen to know in what country these are manufactured? I’m interested in purchasing these, but there is no information on the bottle as to who actually manufactures these. Many thanks.
A: Hello! Good questions—our private labeled vitamins are made by Vitamer Laboratories out of California, they create the finished product and bottle it in California, and source their ingredients from all over the world! For this product in particular—the glucosamine is from China, the chondroitin is from Thailand, and the MSM is from Washington, USA. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you! Angela Pohlman, General Merchandise Category Manager
ROUNDING UP
Q: Would it be possible to include a “Round up to the next Dollar” option for CHiP® Donations? Thanks!
A: Thanks for asking! Yes, rounding up is already an option! When a cashier asks customers if they would like to CHIP®, the default is to add a 1% donation to your total receipt. However, you are welcome to specify whatever monetary value you would like. Many of our customers respond to the ask to CHIP with either a specific amount they would like to give, or that they would like to round-up to the next dollar. We have the flexibility to make the amount whatever you would prefer. Thanks for supporting Community Shares of Wisconsin via the CHIP program! Happy holidays to you. -Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director
Cost issues
Q: I have two cost issues I am curious about.
1: I am a regular purchaser of your Lox Trim in the fish department. When I buy it at West it is 15.99/lb, at North it is 11.99/lb. It is the same product, I have compared it side by side. This seems a considerable price difference. Even if your fish counters are run by different places the discrepancy seems wrong.
2: I also regularly buy Hook’s Triple Play cheese. I was recently in a very cool coop in Sacramento and was excited to see the same cheese there. I was also surprised to see that considering it is made locally, it was .50/lb cheaper in CA. Just curious considering shipping and all why it would not be less expensive here?
We love Willy Coop and shop there often, these price issues just don’t make sense to me.
A: Thanks for writing!
1. I completely understand why the price discrepancy for the lox seems odd. As you mention, the seafood counter at Willy West and East is run by a separate company, The Seafood Center, and unfortunately I don’t have any information about how they do their pricing. If we were the higher price, I would be able to remedy it, but unfortunately I don’t have any way to reduce the pricing from Seafood Center. I wish I could give you more information on this one!
2. Unfortunately, I can’t say exactly why the Hook’s Triple Play was cheaper in California. It may be that the store you were in has a lower profit margin, or perhaps the distributor they are purchasing from does... or maybe California consumers don’t recognize the premium nature of Wisconsin cheese and they are pricing to what will sell? I’m just guessing, since I really don’t know their pricing strategy. I can tell you that we have that cheese priced at our standard margin, which we have found is very competitive with other specialty cheese shops in Madison.
Thanks again for writing—I’m sorry I don’t have more clear answers to both of your questions! Best, Megan Minnick, Purchasing Director