Suggestion Box Responses – Davis Food Co-op

As a community owned grocery store, we are constantly listening to the feedback of our customers. Here you will find our responses to questions and comments (exactly as they were worded to us) from the previous month in our Suggestion Box.

Suggestions from June 2022

Department	Request/Comment	Response from the Co-op
Cheese	Request that we carry… Laura Chenel 2 lb Goat Cheese	Emailed response indicating that we carry this cheese and can make this size available through a special order
Grocery	Request that we carry… Aloha Protein Bars. Plant based protein and organic ingredients. No gluten, no soy.	Emailed back with the following “Thanks for your suggestion regarding Aloha Bars. It definitely looks like a good fit, I will bring in a few flavors. Any particular flavor you would like? I will get them on the shelf in a couple weeks, most likely the first week of July.”
Grocery	Request that we carry… Not Milk – Whole Foods carries this. It is excellent and nothing like it exists. They also make a full fat version HODO Vegan All Day Egg Scramble – Please can we carry this delicious product? We have several other offerings from HODO but not this one. Please consider this as a unique product	Emailed back with the following “Thanks for your suggestions! I agree and think both products would be a great fit. Looks like 2 varieties of the Notmilk are available to us, Whole and reduced fat. I will bring in both of those. I will also bring in the Hodo scrambled eggs. They will be on the shelf in a couple weeks, should be the first week of July. I will also let you know when they are available.”
Grocery	I’ve been following this company for a while as a food blogger and wanted to reach out to check if you might be able to bring their tahini sauces to your store ? I have been looking for something similar for a while and it will be great to get them while shopping at your stores. Here is their info: www.funsesames.com	Emailed back with the following “Thanks for your suggestion! We actually just made our first Fun Sesames order a few days ago! We’ll have 3 flavors, Classic, Spicy Harissa, and Turmeric Zaatar. They will be on the shelf Friday!”
Bulk	What if the Co-op did this… In the bulk section, usually the bags available for bagging herbs/spices are the large, produce size plastic bags. This bag size is totally inappropriate for the small amount of herbs/spices that many shoppers get. At home, attempting to pour a tiny amount of the item from these large, flimsy bags into a tiny seasoning bottle for frequent use in the kitchen is an almost futile effort that ends up repeatedly getting an herb like dill weed all over the kitchen counter and elsewhere, if at all in the target bottle. At one point several months ago there were available in the section smaller plastic bags that worked much better when transferring an item at home. Please make it a REGULAR part of ROUTINE MAINTENANCE of the bulk section to keep these smaller bags stocked and ALWAYS AVAILABLE for customer bagging. It will do little good to just order the bags now and then not MAINTAIN their CONTINUOUS AVAILABILITY to shoppers going forward.	Customer did not ask for a response so we did not follow up directly. However, we do offer the small paper Co+ branded bags in the Bulk spice section for herbs and spices. At this time we are trying to avoid introducing more plastic to the department and recommend that customers use the available paper bags or bring their own containers.
Deli	What if the Co-op did this… I had brought my own container to get food from the deli but self-serve is no longer available. Instead I found a sign explaining the deli food packaging. I’m glad you try to get compostable containers. When you use #7 containers, this is the “other”plastic resin category and is not recyclable, so is basically landfill. So please use either “#1 or #2 plastic resins that are recyclable. You need to update your sign until you make the change.	Emailed back with the following “Thank you for reaching out in regards to the Co-op’s Deli department. Unfortunately self serve is unavailable in the department but that is hopefully something that we can bring back in the future. In regards to the sign about compostable containers that we have in our Grab & Go section, I think there may be some confusion regarding the #7 containers that I wanted to clarify. While it is true that #7 plastics are not recyclable, the symbol on our sign is actually in reference to #7 PLA which is a form of compostable bioplastic derived from plant sugars. It is very confusing that they would use the same number (and pretty much the same logo with the exception of “PLA”) as the #7 plastic but there is a distinction there. With that being said, similar to the plastic version, #7 PLA is a more rare compostable product that is not accepted by all facilities as it requires processing at a modern, high-rate composting facility. To my knowledge, Recology in Davis is one of those facilities and we have confirmed that with them in the past but I will certainly double check with them to confirm that our information is correct and that packaging is indeed compostable in Davis.”
Floral	Comments/Other… I was in shopping on Tuesday and I bought three pots of dahlias and when I went to go plant them only was was able to be planted and I was unable to save the other two as when I went to go plant them they broke and couldn’t be planted i still have my receipt I would like either a replacement or my money back thank you	A voicemail was left for the customer stating that a refund would be issued as well as the tip that we found when planting from the biodegradable pots you have to kind of gently crunch and break the sides to remove the plants, not pull them out as one would do with the traditional plastic containers as the porous sides tend to hold onto the roots and soil.
BWS	Request that we carry… I would to suggest we carry River City Ginger beer. We have been trying various ginger beers ever since we came to Davis in 1972. But alas all have failed to excite us including the ones carried by the coop. However when we went to Sudwerk for a fund raiser we were blown away by this offering. Please consider stocking this item. And it’s from a local supplier too!	Attempted response but email address provided bounced back. However, this is a grocery item that we used to carry that has since been discontinued. We will look into the reasons why it may have been taken off the shelves to see if it is viable to bring it back.
Deli	Comments/Other… I have been shopping with the Co-op since I moved here in 1975. I feel now, that the Coop isnt listening to customers any longer. I’m a vegan and enjoyed the few vegan options the G&G offered. I usually shop late in the evening. Previously you offered a vegan pasta salad that was delicious. Lots of times it was sold out when I would shop late. You discontinued making the salad. I had complained SEVERAL times, and each time the employee would mention that other people had ask3ed about it. Initially the employee would say that they were told the salad wasn’t selling. If it wasn’t selling, WHY was there none left at the end of the day??? I think there may be another reason such as: too time consuming to prepare or someone being anti-vegan!!! Now there is no vegan ‘egg’ salad sandwich which I also enjoyed. ALSO, There’s not one green salad that’s vegan!!! What the hell??? Now the only item left that I like is the Amazon Choc Cake!!! You should have taken away the Japanese noodle salad instead of the delicious vegan pasta salad. I am TRULY DISGUSTED!!!!!	Emailed back with the following “Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concern about the amount of vegan options on the Deli Grab & Go wall. I want to assure you that we are definitely listening to our customers’ feedback as we make decisions storewide and your feedback in particular will be no exception. As I am sure you have noticed over the past year or two, our Deli has been adjusting its offerings as we have dealt with numerous hurdles from being short staffed and losing our department manager to sharp price increases on many ingredients and mandatory pandemic-related changes. In an effort to best utilize our employees’ time, and to cut down on our food waste, there have been some items that we have either drastically cut back production on or discontinued due to sales volume so that we can best serve our customers and keep prices reasonable. I am sorry to hear that one of your favorite items may have been included in those changes but I can definitely assure you that it is not due to anyone being anti-vegan. Many of our staff and customers are vegan and by my count this morning, we have at least eight vegan dishes currently available on our grab & go wall. I do agree that we should have a vegan green salad available and will definitely be passing that, along with the rest of your feedback, on to our hardworking Deli team.”
Operations	What if the Co-op did this… Is there a way to add a EV charging station? It seems like a Coop no-brainer!	Emailed back with the following “Thank you for reaching out and suggesting an EV Charging Station at the Co-op. I will have you know that our Board has been discussing some facilities improvements over the past couple of years and this is something that I have heard been mentioned before. I am forwarding on your suggestion to the Board and if you happen to be an Owner, I encourage you to attend the next Board meeting and voice your support during the opening comment period as well!”