Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan Gillotte <gm AT wheatsville.com>]

Hi Wheatsville friends!

I hope that you are having a swell Friday! Relish this day as it's that rare extra one we get every 4 years!

March starts tomorrow and that brings some fun stuff at the co-op! Mark your calendars for Herb Fair on March 15th and Member Appreciation Day on March 22nd!

We'll be doing inventory tonight, so any shopping you do today means we have to count less!

Our new Co-op Advantage specials start tomorrow, so come on in for those!

Coffee with the Board is on for this Saturday from 10am-Noon. Come on over and see your favorite board members, drink some coffee and talk about what you want to! How about chatting about Wheatsville, the weather or about the Transformation of society?!?

Help some folks in need of dental care!

We've teamed up with our friends at Tom's of Maine to gain some support for dental health for people in need and you can help! Just grab one of the $5 or $2 coupons at the registers and add it to your purchase and the proceeds will go to Manos de Cristo, Austin's only low-income dental clinic, and the Jack Sansing Dental Clinic at Aids Services of Austin. We'd love to raise some good money for these folks who are doing good and much needed work in our community!

Starting tomorrow, look for our Fresh in the Deli recipes from our friends at Bozeman Community Co-op in Bozeman, Montana!

This month we'll feature:

Curry Lime Chicken Salad, a flavorful slightly spicy chicken salad seasoned with mango chutney, fresh lime juice and curry powder and featuring cashews, mango, currants and coconut!

Roasted Artichoke Potato Salad: We toss skin-on potatoes with olive oil, rosemary, and garlic, oven roast them until crisp and mix with roasted artichokes, roasted red peppers and a lemon dijon vinaigrette!

These will be available through March 15th! 

Here is some news from Mike, our refrigerated buyer (and board member! (and now frozen buyer, too!))

Not So Egg-cellent News

 Although we try to keep prices down here at the co-op, we've recently had to raise the prices for our Organic Valley eggs above $4 a dozen. The dozens will now range from $4.29 to $4.49 a dozen. Recently, our two local egg suppliers -- H&J Ranch and Alexander Family Farms -- raised their prices to help offset higher feed costs. It appears the same costs have hit Organic Valley. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices nationwide climbed 4.8 percent last year; eggs cost 29 percent more in January than they did a year ago. Growing demand and climbing oil prices are partly responsible for the higher prices, but the grains farmers feed chickens have also gone up. Demand for biofuels, particularly corn-based ethanol, has prompted some farmers to sell their grains for fuel rather than feed.

 

White Mountain raises prices

 Local tofu- and yogurt-maker White Mountain foods recently raised their prices to help offset their rising costs. We've had to raise our prices to keep pace. White Mountain yogurt pints will be 40 cents higher ($2.69), while quarts climbed 70 cents ($4.49) and gallons are $2 more expensive ($13.99). We've also had to raise prices on White Mountain dips from 30 to 50 cents. White Mountain cited climbing milk prices; the price of a gallon of conventional milk rose 12 percent last year to $3.80 a gallon, according to the Labor Bureau.

 

Cold cases

 In the upcoming months, you may seem some changes in the dairy cooler. Refrigerated Buyer Mike Crissey and interim Merchandising Manager Niki Nash are looking at the department's product mix to cull some of our slower movers. Among the first to leave the case will be Canoleo Premium margarine; we carry the company's soft margarine and it has no hydrogenated oils, unlike the premium. Mike is also planning to consolidate the department's miso selection. He plans to cut two of our three organic Miso Master varieties, leaving only the traditional. We had tried to serve our owners with both organic and conventional miso, but the organic didn't move as fast. Mike will also be looking at kim chis, the White Wave Baked Tofus and Lightlife deli slices. If anyone would like to keep buying these products please contact Mike and he'll work with you on a special order.

Dan here again...

Thanks to our continuing and great financial success (due to YOUR support) I was able to pay out a mid-year bonus to our staff today, which is always a delightful part of my job. Thank you for your continued strong support!

Have a great weekend and week!

Dan

Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy!