Uplands Rush Creek Reserve
Is there any chance any location is planning to stock Uplands Rush Creek Reserve cheese this year? I understand it usually becomes available in late October. We’ve purchased it from your East location multiple times and would be keen to do so again this year.
Thanks for writing to us! We will definitely have Rush Creek Reserve available this year, and we’re very excited! I just sent in our orders to Uplands and our first delivery should be here and on the shelf by Friday October 24th this year. All three of our stores will have it, and the price will be the same as last year. Also just to let you know, our final delivery will be the week of the 15th in December, in case you want to stock up before it’s done for the year. -Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Local Meat
While looking for fresh local stew meat, I was disappointed to see how much of the fresh meat was from “America’s grass-fed farms” rather than from local WI farms. I have always appreciated being able to buy local meat at the Coop, but the fresh meat cooler is currently very non-local. Please prioritize selling WI beef over Francy “wagyu” that comes from a distance. Also, please please find a source for local chicken!
Thank you for your recent email regarding local meat. We offer a mix of both local and regional 100% grass-fed beef in each of our meat departments. This is to both keep our departments stocked with meat daily and to offer high quality beef at a competitive price so that more of our customers have access to our products. As far as local chicken, we’ve worked with several suppliers over the years with minimal success. There aren’t any local chicken suppliers who can provide nearly enough volume of fresh chicken that our stores would require. We’ve tried carrying whole frozen local chickens, but they haven’t sold well. Thanks and have a great week! -Nick Heitman, Meat, Seafood, Beer, Wine & Spirits Category Manager
Mislabeled Cheese
The Cedar Grove Mild White Organic Cheddar (bulk packaged) is the staple cheese at our house. The last two times I have purchased the cheese I have noticed some pretty stark differences including cheese crystals and its melting characteristics have also changed. Has the cheese recipe or aging changed? Could it have been mislabeled? It tastes great, but it very different than the same cheese I have previously bought.
Hello and thanks for contacting us. My apologies about that! The cheese was indeed mislabeled—we just detected the problem and removed the cheese from the shelf, but unfortunately several pieces sold before we caught on. We’re in talks with our supplier now to figure out what happened, but in the meantime we’ve cut up the correct Cedar Grove Organic Mild White cheddar and it’s back out on the shelf at West. You’re also welcome to a refund for the erroneous cheese if you would like one—please speak to the good folks at Customer Service and they can help you with that.Sorry about the mixup and thanks for your patience! -Matt Neff, Willy West Cheese Coordinator
Ela Orchard
Thank you for writing and sending a monthly newsletter! I read every page and really enjoy the content, especially this month’s newsletter for Eat Local Month. I love how the co-op supports so many small, local, and sustainability minded farmers. While I live over an hour from Willy Street Co-op and only make it every month or two to shop, it was through shopping at the co-op that I found there was an apple farm (Ela Orchard in Rochester) 20 minutes away from where I live. During apple season, I now try to go there every week to purchase fresh cider and apples. In addition to having so much knowledge and passion about apples, Bob and Ben are wonderful business owners. They truly care about their customers and provide a high-quality, fresh product at a very reasonable price. I’m so happy that Willy Street Co-op purchases from them!
I’m so glad to hear you are liking our newsletter and that you found Ela Orchard (and so close to home)! The timing of this email is serendipitous—our very first delivery of local apples this season is today at the Co-op! I hope you have a great rest of your week. -Caitlyn Tompkins, Marketing Manager
Bulk Oats Shelf Life
Hope I got my owner number right…My question: what is the shelf life of the Thick Rolled Oats from the bulk section? I keep them in a glass container with the rubberized “gasket” on the lid, so air tight.
Thanks for your question! I looked this up online and thick rolled oats stored in a sealed jar in a cool, dark, and dry place will typically last up to 1 to 2 years. I had no idea they would last that long! -Dean Kallas, Grocery Category Manager
Vegan Donuts
Stopped into Willy St. for a few essentials while in town and discovered the Level 5 donuts. I re-read the ingredients about 5 times because I couldn’t believe my eyes: Vegan donuts! Gluttony overcame reason and I walked out with a box (two of every flavor so I didn’t have to deal with regret from not having bought more). Over the next few days I relished these wonderful culinary creations. I’ve had lifelong food allergies which meant I never quite understood some things, the love of donuts being on of those. But now I get it. My adipose cells thank you for offering their donuts and my bike repair person also says thank you because of the increase in use leading to more maintenance. So much joy from round combinations of lipids, carbs and flavors.
So glad you’re enjoying the vegan donuts, we’re so excited to be carrying them as well! -Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Pre-seasoned Chicken
I used to live near the North location and loved buying the pre-seasoned chicken breasts that were vacuum sealed ivy the butcher department. I recently moved to near the West location, and I looked for these pre-seasoned chicken breasts there, and I could not find them. Is it possible to have the pre-seasoned chicken breasts at the West location? The herb one is my favorite!
Thank you for submitting a request for pre-seasoned chicken breast. Each store carries slightly different products in each department depending on the needs of customers and availability of products. I’m happy to get the recipe from the North side location and custom make this for you as a special order. I’ll also tell you that we carry 5 types of marinated chicken breast currently in our service case and they are all fabulous! Honey Garlic, Sriracha Honey Lime, Lemon Butter, Sesame Teriyaki, and Bourbon BBQ. Also, we are more than happy to vacuum-seal anything in our meat service case for you as well. Just ask us! For special orders, we ask for name, phone number, how much of a product you’re looking for and how you’d like it packaged. We can typically get special orders together within 48 hours or less and we can either give you a call when it’s ready to be picked up or you can give us a date ahead of time for when you’ll plan to be in next. You can either call us, stop in and talk to us, or email me directly for assistance with getting you what you need. -Ryan Ashley, Willy West Meat & Seafood Manager
Tipi Carrots
Where are the Tipi Produce carrots???? We MISS THEM! Have farmers Steve and Beth suffered another mishap this year? (Hope and pray not!) Please let them know we wish them the best and that WE MISS THEIR CARROTS! Summer isn’t fully here without them! (I did try the watermelon and it was wonderful as described)
Tipi Produce typically does two plantings of carrots: a small planting for late June harvest (this is a lower volume harvest, which we can typically offer for a few weeks before they run out), and a planting for harvest in October. This year, we did not get the late June carrots! Sometimes this early planting gets smothered out by weeds, and sometimes, they just don’t get planted. If the harvest is light, the carrots will go to their CSA shares. We will be getting the Tipi carrots in October, and they are usually able to supply us into March, sometimes April! -Andy Johnston, Produce Category Manager
Arugula in a Plastic Bag
Harmony Valley Farms arugula in the plastic bag is a very disappointing product. I am aware that they are local. But tender arugula leaves tightly packed in a small bag that ALWAYS has water in it while still on the shelf is a recipe for quick spoilage. And it does, without fail! You have offered organic arugula in boxes and I wish you would do so again. PS we LOVE WILLY’S. Always have; always will!!
Thanks for sharing your feedback regarding the local bagged arugula. I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been happy with the quality. I’ve given the Produce team direction to keep a closer eye on any quality issues like water damage and also to avoid overstuffing the display. If further quality issues persist, we will give feedback to the farm. As the local season begins to wind down, we normally bring back in the nonlocal product in September or October. Since it is in a sturdier clamshell and is a nonlocal product, it tends to be drier. You can expect to see it on our shelves sometime in the next few weeks. -Demeter Brock-Montgomery, Willy East Produce Manager
Return Policy
I purchased a lotion bar and ended up not liking the scent. I was wondering what your policy is on returning opened health care products?
Thanks for reaching out! You can absolutely return that lotion bar! We accept returns on any product (excluding alcohol and class II medical devices) for up to 90 days after purchase. While a receipt is helpful to make the return process quicker, we can still look up past purchases under your owner number. -Jonathan Hopp, Willy West Front End Manager
