The beginning of April shepherds in the third installment of our Coop Scoop! March was filled with moving and shaking at the co-op; we moved our Coffee and Soup stations and we added a brand new payment system to our check out lines! This time last year, we were a couple weeks fresh in to the pandemic- what a year it’s been! We appreciate all the support, criticism, and feedback we’ve received, all shaping us in to a better co-op.
Index
GENERAL NEWS
HOURS
Please note that the co-op will be opening late Friday, April 2nd, to complete our quarterly inventory counts.
We will also be closed all of Sunday April 4th for Easter.
NEW Payment Processors
Welcome to the FUTURE ⚡️ The co-op recently installed brand new card readers in all our check out lines – all equipped with chip readers and airpay!
Mud Creek CSA
You may already know that Abundance works with lots of great local farmers, but did you also know we act as a pick up hub for Mud Creek Farm and their wonderful CSA program? Every year, from June to November, the store offers an opportunity for those in our neighborhood to have easy access to the fresh produce this CSA provides. Sign up today!
ROUND UP
March Round Up
This March the co-op supported the amazing, historic animal sanctuary Mockingbird Farm.
With all your help we collected $1893.98 for this non-profit! This is the most we have ever collected for a Round Up recipient!
April Round Up
April is National Autism Awareness Month, and this month the co-op will be supporting AutismUP. AutismUp is the leading 501(c)3 autism support organization in the Greater Rochester and surrounding areas. Founded in 2004, by a small group of parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, AutismUp has grown to include more than 2,500 family and professional member households.
GROCERY
Our LOCAL LOVE endcap was such a success, we’ve expanded to two endcaps, both filled with some of the locally made items you can find around the store.
We are excited to announce we are expanding our Pet department this month! Also, some new vendors to keep your eyes out for: Nats Nuts (local), Top Seedz (local), and Zot Licorice.
New Vegan offerings include Lightlife tempeh and smart dogs, Wildwood tofu, No Evil Food products (Comrade Cluck, The Stalion, El Capitan), and Beyond Breakfast sausage.
Easter Goodies
We have Rabbits, Speckled Eggs, Chocolate Eggs, Gummy Fruits, and more! Find holiday themed favorites from Lake Champlain Chocolate, Divine Chocolate, YumEarth, and Tony’s Chocolonely
PRODUCE
Produce Department
Spring is springing, soon the co-op will start seeing a slew of local lettuces, greens, and herbs coming in.
We’ve started selling Leep Foods Mushrooms; Lions’s Mane, Shiitake, and Blue Oyster varieties, all choices available loose or packaged, and WOW- you all love them so much already!
Based in Rochester, New York, Leep Foods is an organic and soil regenerative farm growing premium gourmet mushrooms on nutrient-enriched American hardwoods for consumers and restaurants.
We continue to have a plethora of live plants and flowers, it has proven a welcomed addition to the store. Our rack of local Fruition Seeds packets is already dwindling down quickly!
Bags of local Light House Gardens organic soil are back in! Come and get em.
DELI & BAKERY
This month the bakery is highlighting the amazing little BLUEBERRY as the flavor of the month. Expect delicious treats like Lemon-blueberry-poppyseed muffins and sweetbreads. Our Soda Shoppe flavors of the month for March did well, the strawberry milkshake cookies and Creamsicle cake were a hit! We hope to be coming out with a soup schedule shortly, we know how much you all love the soup!
Paul made some beautiful wood toppers for our hot food stations; we can now use them as coffee and soup serving stations. They look gorgeous. We have also expanded our daily offerings of available coffee choices from three to five!
We are extending our Soup & Sandwich Combo deal another month- $1.50 off any size soup with a sandwich purchase.
BULK
Billie, our Bulk buyer, always keeps the department looking so clean and festive.
New to the department, Organic Energy Mix, Rice Cracker Mix, and Peanut Carob Clusters. We are soon stocking Bee Pollen, Sushi Rice, and Dried Papaya!
CHEESE
New to the co-op this month, locally crafted First Light Creamery cheese.
First Light Farm & Creamery is a diversified farm in East Bethany, New York. They produce goat’s milk and cow’s milk cheese made by hand in small batches.
At First Light, we employ meticulously sustainable and humane
management of our herd of Nubian and Alpine dairy goats. Many of our recipes combine our own milk with organic Jersey milk from our neighbor’s exceptionally well-managed dairy. This combination results in a unique, delicious flavor and consistency to all of our cheeses. We at First Light believe in the principle of terroir, so we never standardize or homogenize the milk that makes our cheese. Instead, we highlight the seasonal changes to our milk by tailoring our cheeses to that day’s milk.
HEALTH & BEAUTY
Proteins, Powders, Vitamins, Supplements, Probiotics, and more – we’ve got you covered.
The Health & Beauty department is filled with all sorts of options for all sorts of needs. If you have specific questions, Nicole (our buyer) is incredibly knowledgeable and can be found with in the aisles most days.
BEER, CIDER & MORE
In case you missed it while you were in the store shopping (lol) we have some delicious, locally made, Genesee Brewery Ruby Red Kolsch in!
Keep your eyes out for these new flavors:
- Rohrbach Black Cherry Stout
- Southern Tier Strawberry Milkshake IPA
- Nine Pin Earl Grey Cider
NEWS FROM THE BOARD
Board of Directors Meeting
This month the Board of Directors meeting is on Tuesday, April 13th. Meetings start at 6:30PM, and go until about 8:30PM. We will be meeting via zoom again this month, if you would like to attend, please email marketing@abundance.coop for the link and the agenda.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
COMPOST RETURN: Spring Event
Join us on Saturday, May 8th from 10-6, to celebrate the end of International Compost Awareness Week! Impact Earth will be set up outside, in our lawn area next to the store (on the corner of South and Hamilton) swapping out bins of compost for customers returning their full bins.
The day will include educational activities, live music, and more! (stay tuned for more details as they become available).
