March Feedback Responses 2023​

Request that we carry:

Josie’s Organic Spring Blush Salad Kit

Email Response:

“We received your suggestion form last week, requesting Josie’s Spring Blush Salad Kit, and we wanted to let you know that you can now find it at the Co-op! It is located with all the other salads in the Produce Department across from the Mermaid Sushi and Hot Bar.
Thank you again for the request!”

Request that we carry:

Vital Wheat Gluten

Response:

The bulk department emailed the customer saying that the co-op would look into finding it through a different vendor. Since the one we used to carry it discontinued it.

What if the Co-op did this:

Hi! I love the sushi you offer and the fact that the fish is sustainable (yay!) but I really dislike the plastic packaging that seems out of line with the values of the product itself. On the other hand, the Nugget has more sustainable packaging (not plastic free but less plastic) but the fish isn’t sustainably sourced. I’m always torn about where to buy sushi and would love to be able to live all my values in one place – at the Coop. I have seen sushi restaurants with all paper packaging although it’s rare so there are options! Thank you for considering!

Email Response:

“Thank you for your recent feedback concerning the packaging used by Mermaid Sushi at the Co-op. To clarify, Mermaid Sushi is technically an outside vendor that we have an agreement with to use the space that you see inside our store. For that reason, we actually have no control over their production or materials used. I will gladly forward on your concerns to them but will also point out that they are also a franchise operator and therefore may not have much control over the materials they receive from the Owner of the company either. Either way, definitely worth checking in on and we appreciate the feedback once again.”

Comment:

Hi, I’m inquiring about Dos Volcanes Agave Spirits. It says on their website that it’s available at the Davis Food Co-op. Do you still carry it? If so, I wonder if you could share which distributor you get it from. I’d like my Co-op in Quincy to carry it again. Thank you!!

Email Response:

“Yes we do carry Dos Volcanes Agave Spirits, they are located in our spirits aisle.
You can ask any associate if you need help finding the item.
Our distributor is Craig Reynolds with California Agave Adventures.

Thank you for your inquiry and let me know if there is anything I can help you with.”

Request that we carry:

More local produce! Hello – I’ve been in the coop several times recently and have been discouraged by the produce selection. Quality looks great, but where are all the greens and roots and such from local farms? Selection seems heavy on the Cal-O and large farm labels. With a tagline of “know your food, grow your community”, it would be good to showcase more fresh produce from our community-based farms like Riverdog, Terra Firma, Good Humus, Farmer Boy, and others – as the coop has in the past. I am a long-time coop member (almost 10 years) and the coop is where I buy most of my groceries. Thank you!

Email Response:

“Hello Gwenael! “Thank you for your comments and feedback, we hope this response finds you well, and addresses some of your concerns. While we do our best to offer locally sourced produce year-round (within 100 miles), we work with a variety of distributors, harvesting schedules, seasons, limited availabilities and oddities in weather, which all contributes to what we hope is a healthy mix of seasonal offerings from a range of suppliers. As far as the specifics of your question, the following are featured in store at time of writing.

-Our beets (bulk gold and bulk red) consistently come from Terra Firma

-Our Citrus sets have been heavily based on Good Humus

-Our Floral Department is built on a rotation of orders from Good Humus & Full Belly Farms – Dino Kale, Green Cabbage, Red & Rainbow Chards all come from Terra Firma and Full Belly when available For the most part, our buying patterns shift significantly towards local sources as weather warms. (Leafy greens have already started moving their way up from Southern California sources as the weather warms and we will continue to see a steady increase in availabilities from farms you listed).

We continue to work closely with local farms to offer their products year round, but the reality is that many of these small to medium size farms are operating at a capacity to provide a more robust availability list during summer seasons, with limited offerings during winter. Several local farms you mentioned do not have their seeds in the ground at time of writing, (due to ground wetness) when they are available, we will have them available. Our relationships with Good Humus, Terra Firma, Picnic Table, Farm Boy, Riverdog and other producers that are certifiably organic within 100 miles from the store are critical, and we will continue our dialogue with them as the seasons rotate to continue to offer what they do best.

Thank you for your feedback and interest! Comments like this are helpful for communication corridors we want to continue to develop with members of community and owners. Should you have any other questions about how our flow of purchasing flows from season to season, please follow up and we will be happy to go into more details!” -Cheers, Davis Food Coop, Produce Department

We always seem to be out of:

What the heck happened to vanilla frozen yogurt, especially Stonyfield

 Response:

Attempted to call, mailbox was full, will attempt to call back.

Stonyfield has discontinued their frozen yogurt. The only frozen yogurt that is available to us that I can find is Noosa which we carry 3 sku’s, they currently do not offer a vanilla option.

Attempted to call, mailbox was full, will attempt to call back.

Stonyfield has discontinued their frozen yogurt. The only frozen yogurt that is available to us that I can find is Noosa which we carry 3 sku’s, they currently do not offer a vanilla option.

Comment:

We love your honey nut squash! Will you be carrying it from now on (until the weather gets too warm)? Thank you!

Email Response:
“We recently received your question about the honey nut squash and how long we will be carrying it at the co-op. I was able to speak to the Produce Manager and she said there is no current date on when the availability of them will end, so we will continue to order them as long as it is available to us. Because we too love the honey nut squash!

I have CC’ed the Produce Manager, Christina, on this email and she can follow up with you if you have any further questions.”