Grocery

Customer Question: Vegan Boca Burgers! Don’t tell me you’ve discontinued these.  It would be a disservice to your vegan members. 

Co-op Answer: Thank you for your input! Unfortunately, we did discontinue this item in order to expand our vegan meat alternative options.  We brought in new styles of  meat options such as fishless filets and “chicken” strips.  We also brought in a new fresh vegan patty from Beyond Meat. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Please add Myoko’s vegan “family friendly” butter.  Thanks.
A: Thank you for your input! We will be bringing this product in in the next two weeks. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Could you carry Pacific oat milk in a larger size like the soy/rice milk?

A: Thank you for your input! Unfortunately, Pacific does not currently make a 64 oz oat milk.  However, we are looking to bring in the brand Oatley, in chocolate and original.  -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Could you please carry Mateo’s Salsa.

A: Thank you for your input! At this time, we do not have a distributor who carries this product. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: How about putting the tempeh on sale.

A: Thank you for your input! We will make sure to reach out to Rhapsody about helping us run a great sale on these products. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: 3 Twins Ice Cream.  Yummy stud – all of it.  Cardamom and Cherry Choc Chunk are great.

A: Thank you for your input! Our freezer set is very full and mostly full of local brands we love to support, so it is tough to find room for a national brand.  We are happy to special order this product for you. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Bring back O.V. soy milk half gallons.  They taste better than Silk, are cheap and store well.  Good to have choices.  Thanks!

A: Thank you for your input! Unfortunately, O.V. has ceased production of all soy products.  If there are any other soy brands you would prefer, please feel free to reach out.  -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Halvah!

A: Thank you for your input! We do finally have a distributor who carries this, although only the candy bar version.  We will consider bringing this in if there is enough customer interest, but in the mean time we are happy to special order it for you.  -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Please carry Almond Breeze in dairy case, coconut and reg.

A: Thank you for your input! Our dairy case is very full and it is difficult to add anything to it.  We carry a couple of other almond and coconut nondairy milks in our fresh section currently. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Is it possible to get a GF/DF frozen pizza? Daiya makes one.  Thank you!

A: Thank you for pointing out this was missing from our set.  I will work with the frozen buyer to get something in the next week or so. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: The grass fed milk is great but you’re making me go to Shaw’s for low fat which mama says I should be getting.

A: Thank you for your input! We do sell Kimball Brook, Organic Valley, and Monument Farm as low fat options. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Glass is nice but so is saving. Please carry Teddy chunky peanut butter in large container – plastic. 

A: Thank you for your input! Have you tried our bulk department? We have tried the large plastic peanut butter containers before, but between our Coop Basics Field Day PB and our bulk department, it just isn’t competitive.  -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Please, please, please carry the Stonyfield Crème de la Crème frozen yogurt (in summer at least).

A: Thank you for your input! Are you look for the Crème Caramel flavor? We could definitely find room for that one. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Please stock canned Posole.

A: Thank you for your input! I love Pozole! Unfortunately, I am not able to find canned Pozole available through our distributors.  However, we do sell hominy, just ask me if you want a great recipe to try at home.  -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Please stock Ponzu (soy sauce citrus).  You could have fewer soy/tamari choices to make space.

A: Thank you for your input! Ponzu is a delicious sauce, thank you for pointing out this missing item.  We will add it in the next couple of weeks. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Q: Primal Kitchen salad dressing.  There’s one more that they make, possibly Italian, that we do not carry.  Please bring it in! Big hit with folks – gluten free, sugar free.

A: Thank you for your input! With all of Primal Kitchen’s new additions, we are actually missing about four of their dressings and we plan to bring them all in. -Olivia, Grocery Buywe

Q: I have been successfully using Pamela’s GF bread mix to make communion bread for our church.  Why don’t you carry this anymore?

A: Thank you for your input! Sorry to change things up on you – Pamela’s has never been a great seller and we wanted to change it up for a brand that has great reviews and great taste – Simple Mills.  The bread mix works well for all types of bread. -Olivia, Grocery Buyer

Food Services

Q: Montasio cheese from Northern Italy – nothing like cheddar, great for potato pancake and sandwich for people who don’t want a sharp cheese. They carry it in Burlington, I think.
A: Cheese is available at $17.99 per pound.  Please let me know how much you would like to purchase. Thanks! -Bibi, Cheese Buyer

Q: Please offer more French cheeses such as Comte, reasonably priced Roquefort, Brillat Savarin, raw milk Camembert, etc.  I have been a member since 1983 and miss Deborah Messing’s selection.

A: I’m sorry, but these French cheeses have been discontinued due to lack of sales.  Societe Bee Roquefort did not sell even though it was a few dollars less than Papillon.  -Bibi, Cheese Buyer

Wellness

Q: Please find a way to post the unit price with the per oz for the essential oils – I’d like to compare prices. 
A: Great idea.  This information is now available behind the essential oils. Please ask anyone in Wellness for assistance.  -Laura, Wellness Manager

General

Q: The new color in the exit is very unsettling.

A: Sorry to hear you don’t favor the new color.  Our new bulletin boards have been on back order for several weeks now.  Once those are hung, we can better evaluate the new wall color.  If it’s widely unpopular then we can always change it.  -Kari, General Manager

Q: I shop here a lot.  Very often I see your employee parking at a customer’s parking spot.  Always.  That’s rude and unprofessional.  Please make sure parking spots are for customers who come here. Thanks!
A: My apologies.  Employees are not to park in the customer lot before 6 pm this time of year (5 pm in the winter).  I will issue a reminder and some spot checks to help folks remember customers are our top priority.  -Kari, General Manager

Q: An idea for Co-op member work – to work in community on related projects e.g. helping senior citizens build compost and set up system and have it count for the Co-op member work as in store (minimum wage and 6% off).  Good work and great PR. 

A: Thanks, we have been slowly developing such a program but recently ran into obstacles with insurance and liability.  Hopefully we will be able to work through these.  -Kari, General Manager

Q: When we were in Portland, ME, their coop had a landing tree for bags where people left extra bags for people who had forgotten them.  It was a great resource!

A: What a great idea! Thanks for suggesting.  I contacted the Portland Co-op for advice and we will get this going soon. -Kari, General Manager

Q: Please start using recyclable plastic bags (plastic) for produce. 

Q: Plastic usage! I’d love to see biodegradable (bio-bags)  available in the bulk and produce areas.

A: Thank you. We looked into compostable plastic bags for produce and bulk but local compost facilities will not accept them.  There is also a significant cost difference.  If you have information about how these bags could be used safely/effectively in central VT, please contact me: 262-3219 or [email protected]. -Kari, General Manager

Q: Great store! I’m visiting from Baltimore.

Q: Keep up the awesome customer service!

A: Thank you for the positive feedback.  We are glad you enjoy our co-op. -Kari, General Manager

Q: Can we please put a limit on people working at the café tables? Many times we have come for lunch to find people working with their computers, taking up an entire table. Maybe limit during lunch?

A: We view the café as communal.  Feel free to join those who are taking up a table, who knows, maybe they will stop working and converse with you. Thanks. -Kevin, Operation Manager

Q: I dislike self checkouts in every store I have ever been to, that being said, I would use self checkout every time here if you had it.

A: I’m very sorry to hear you feel this way, and I am concerned that you may have received service that does not meet our standards.  Please contact Sonia Keene, our front end manager, at 802-262-3225 or [email protected] to discus further and let her know what we can do to make it right. Thank you! -Alison, Asst. Front End Manager

Q: Nothing says “I am not engaging with the customer” like a cashier who hums through the entire transaction.

A: I am sincerely sorry to hear that you had a poor experience and I encourage you to contact me and/or my manager directly: 262-3225, [email protected], or [email protected] to further discuss your concern.  -Alison, Asst. Front End Manager

Q: I think you should carry hemp rolling papers.

A: Thank you for your suggestion.  At this point we are not carrying smoking accessories but appreciate the idea. -Laura, Wellness Manager

Q: Please carry Alaffia deodorant in the tea tree fragrance.  You have only coconut-types and I can’t abide coconut fragrance. 

A: We are looking to bring in the Alaffia tea tree deodorant.  Stay tuned. -Laura, Wellness Manager

Q: I shop here a lot.  One thing that increasing troubles me – and others – is how often the staff squabbling and verbal complaints are aired in public and even makes customers wait.  This happens often.  Please speak to your staff.  At dinner last night, eleven people had the same experience. 

A: My apologies. We spend a fair amount of time talking about prioritizing our customer and you shopping experience here, so it’s really not acceptable behavior for co-op employees.  I will communicate with employees, including managers, in a variety of ways. -Kari, General Manager

Q: Thanks to the cheese department for finally wrapping cheese in paper instead of plastic.  Now you need to convince the bulk dept to do the same.

A: We do have paper bags in bulk as well! Plus, you can always bring in a container. -Kevin, Operations Manager

Q: In light of the fact that much of our recycling -plastics and paper especially – are being put in landfills now that China has restricted its import of it, what are you doing to reduce your use of it?
A: It’s a great question.  We have a Green Team that has been focused on the recycling of more and different materials.  There has been some innovation in “no waste” or low waste stores and I look forward to learning more.  Of course, the gold standard is still buying bulk and produce with reusable containers.  -Kari, General Manager

Q: You should have a bin where people bring their grocery bags and then use those instead.
A: Thank you for the suggestion! In the exit way under the wooden structure there is a bin for reused bags – please feel free to take or leave paper bags there! -Emma, Customer Service Rep.