Write Us!
We welcome your comments and give each one attention and serious consideration. Send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or fill out a Customer Comment form in the Owner Resources area. Each month a small selection is printed in the Reader; publication does not necessarily indicate an endorsement of views stated in a customer’s original comment. Many more comments can be found in the commons or in the binder near Customer Service. Thank you!
Beetnik Juice
Q: I see that the Beetnik Juice now has apple juice in it. This juice has always been made with just carrot and beet juice. I can’t drink it with apple juice in it and I’m sure all of the people that buy this juice will agree. I also see that the size is much smaller with a high price. Thank you.
A: I received your customer comment about the Beetnik Juice. I’m sorry to report that the Beetnik has, as far as I know, always had apple as an ingredient, but the apple is a small amount and the base of this juice is mostly carrot. Years ago I worked in the East Juice Bar and the recipe is the same then as it is now. It’s possible that when we switched to cold press that the apple is coming through with the flavors differently than it had before when we were using a centrifugal juicing method.
As for the price, yes we did increase the price. We were overdue for a price increase actually and it should’ve been done a while ago. That coupled with the rising costs of food ingredients is costing more than ever to make the product. -Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Biodegradable Bags
Q: Here’s my idea: Why not package the not-so-hot fruit and veg that you sell at a discount in biodegradeable bags (the ones you offer customers who would like to bag their produce). I always buy not so hot stuff and end up with all these plastic bags. Because I’m a nut, I cut the tags off each one and recycle them at Target....but does everyone do this? Probably not. They probably end up in the landfill. Thanks.
A: Thanks for reaching out and expressing your ideas! I really appreciate how you properly recycle this packaging and take such initiative.
In regards to using plastic bags on our discounted produce—the bag helps our cashiers identify the products as discounted and allows us to apply the discounted price to the product—in addition, it helps to preserve the freshness of the discounted items. The biodegradable bags were tried out and we found they make the product “sweat” considerably more, and because the discounted items stay in a bag for a bit of time on our shelves, it unfortunately is not a viable option. If bagging options change, we will definitely take this into account as we move forward. In cooperation, Kristina Kuhaupt, Customer Experience Manager
Bathrooms
Q: Your BATHROOMS!! Yes! Non-gendered, great scent-free soap, hands-free faucets. I am the Mom of an out and proud trans/NB artist and can’t wait to tell them about just another way Willy North ROCKS. God bless you all.
A: Thank you so much for writing in and letting us know how you feel about the new and improved non-gendered bathrooms. We are so excited to have been able to make this upgrade and are pleased that they have been well received. To know that your kiddo will feel welcome and more comfortable in their shoes at our store makes it all worth it. Take the best care and have a fantastic day! Amanda Ikens, Owner Resources Coordinator East and North
Double Dollars
Q: Why is there an added admin fee of .10 for double dollars every time I shop??
A: Thanks for writing in and asking about this line item you see each time you shop. This means that you bring in reusable bags for your groceries, and when the cashier sees those bags, the Co-op donates 10 cents per bag to the Double Dollars Program. You are not charged this amount, we donate that amount; so thank you for both helping out the environment and providing this resource to the community! If you have further questions; feel free to contact me. Have a nice day, Kristina Kuhaupt, Customer Experience Manager
Chilled Water
Q: I see that single bottles of water now only available chilled—i.e. no longer stocked in the shelves as single. For those of us who want room temp, we now have bottles condensing while they wait at home on as we carry them. Wish you would reconsider this.
A: Thank you for the feedback. It is appreciated and helpful. Unfortunately I am sorry that we are not able to fulfill this request for you. We moved the single serve from aisle number five due to abysmal sales. Due to our smaller store size we do need to be aggressive with space allocation based on sales. If an item is not justifying the space it holds (sales-wise) we cannot keep it without hurting the Co-op as a whole. Again, I am sorry that this does not work for your situation. Thank you, Jason Zabinski, Grocery Manager—East.
Good Lectures
Q: Thanks for the lectures given by Katy Wallace, ND. They are well researched with lots of good health info and they are fun to listen to. Before Covid they were “live” and went between the 3 WillySt Co-op stores. They went to zoom when Covid hit and are still on zoom.
I moved away from Madison and appreciate it that I can still participate in the lectures from my new home. And better still, if I miss a lecture or I want to listen again I can go to the “Human Nature LLC” website and watch them as many times as I want to.
I encourage Katy and the Willy St Co-op to keep these lectures online. Thanks Katy. And Thanks Willy St Co-op.
A: I’m happy to hear you’re still able to enjoy Katy’s lectures! She is a wealth of knowledge and a wonderful resource. I will be sure to share your message with her as well. Take care, Liz Hawley, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Extra Flyers
Q: Please have extra copies of the sale flyers made for store pickup. I only read the rest of The Reader in-store. But I want the flyer to write on and circle specials at home. That’s much better that online.
A: We print copies of the sales flyer and place them in our vestibule at the start of each week. We also replenish them as they deplete throughout the week if ever there are no copies of the sales flyer in the vestibule, you can stop at the Customer Service desk and ask the desk clerk for a copy. Thank you for your feedback, I hope you have a wonderful day. -Rob Curtis, Front End Manager—North
Free-Range Chicken
Q: Hi Willy Street folks. I was really thrilled to see a potentially “free range” chicken being stocked. Bell and Evans isn’t as their chickens are only indoors in a barn. Also, very similar investigations to the one in this article have found that they aren’t nearly as humane as they advertise.
Smart Chicken advertises itself as not only humanely raised but organic. Yet, it seems to be neither. It’s just one more pretending-to-be-good factory farm making big bucks by doing so. That it is more expensive than Bell and Evans suggests it verse on scamming customers.
True free range chicken like from Jen Ehr in Sun Prairie tastes so much incredibly better than any raise in one of these large concerns. Even semi-free- range like Pecatonica Valley would be better than this.
But I’m going to assume that there’s no local suppliers of free range chicken that would meet your needs. So maybe stick to Bell and Evans - a better price point for one fewer lies.
www.cornucopia.org/scorecard/organic-poultry-scorecard/smart-chicken-tecumseh-poultry-tyson
A: Thank you for your recent email regarding Smart Chicken and Bell & Evans. The reason you have begun to see Smart Chicken on the shelves at the Co-op is due to some supply issues that Bell & Evans has been experiencing. In order to supplement these supply issues and provide our custom-ers with better product availability, we brought in Smart Chicken. Both brands offer USDA certified Organic poultry, as well as all-natural hormone and antibiotic-free poultry products. They both also utilize air-chilling in their processing facilities, which improves quality. While I agree it would be better to partner with a local chicken farmer to supply the Co-op with its poultry, there just doesn’t exist a local supplier who can provide us with enough product to fulfill the demands of our three stores. -Nick Heitman, Category Manager: Meat, Seafood, Beer, Wine & Spirits