Going to Kansas City

After 44 years, your community-owned food co-op is ready to multiply! Your co-op’s Board of Directors and management have achieved alignment to sign a non-binding letter of intent to open a store at the corner of 5th and Minnesota in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. This alignment has been built through a year’s worth of visioning, conversations and feasibility.

Fair Trade for Farmers and Our Future

Fair Trade for Farmers and Our Future

This May 12th, in over 70 countries around the globe, we celebrate World Fair Trade Day and the hard work, resilience, and innovation of small-scale farmers and artisans.

And this May, Fair World Project is partnering with brands committed to working with farmers to bring home deals on their fair trade products along with offering more opportunities to get involved.

Naturally Dyed Eggs

Naturally Dyed Eggs

Egg dyeing is a fun way to celebrate this time of year—and it's a tradition that goes way back—as much as 5,000 years when Persians celebrated springtime with eggs colored with plant-based dyes. Plant dyes can be just as useful today and they're plentiful; in fact you very well might have dye-worthy ingredients in your kitchen already.

Here are some great plant-based dyes—fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers.

Continuing the Work for Livable Wages

By Zac Hamlin, Human Resources Manager

By Zac Hamlin, Human Resources Manager

In the winter issue of Connections I wrote about the ways that your co-op was changing in order to offer livable wages and create more co-op careers.

There were early successes with this experiment. I am proud to report that those successes continue to roll in. Turnover has ground to a halt, and nearly all employees have completed the trainings required to earn the livable wage rate. While we continue to fine tune operations, our next step is mitigating the wage compression created by our new approach to compensation.

According to the Kansas Department of Labor wage survey (and prior to implementing our Livable Wage Initiative), The Merc Co+op was already leading the market in frontline worker pay and lagging the market in supervisory pay. Despite that, your co-op chose to invest labor dollars into frontline staff, and asked supervisors to wait. Tenured staff and supervisors understood that this was a tall order, that the work would be more difficult and the reward unclear.

“It takes a village” is a saying that applies to your co-op as well. The woman that codes invoices and the fellow who orders apples are just as critical to our success as the stocker, cashier and barista that you see on the forefront. Their tasks may be less visible, but their contribution is no less valuable. 

Growing sales, customer count and new owners are the things that offset labor expenses, and that’s where you come in. Thank you for choosing to shop our co-op! Your participation makes it possible to recognize, retain and reward staff on all levels of the this organization.  

 

Bulk Ingredient Recipes

Bulk Ingredient Recipes

Make the most of our high quality culinary products in any season and bring world-class flavor to your meals on even the most modest budget. We've collected a variety of articles dealing with food, herbs, teas, cooking and a mindful lifestyle to help you explore the world of natural living. Check out these bulk-inspired articles and join us February 23-25 for our Bulk Sale!