Emily Day
Laurel Burleson’s Apple Straps were the featured test product this March.
Who doesn’t love to see the free sample tray at the grocery store? That nibble of frozen pizza or blue corn chips sure does hit the spot while wandering among the aisles. The Willy Street Co-op aims to do more than quell hunger pangs with its Retail Ready Lab, though. The program creates a way for fledgling food entrepreneurs to get their products ready for prime time through a featured month-long vendor slot and sampling program. Ultimately, it may lead to permanent shelf space at the Co-op.
The program has been in operation since September 2017, says Co-op purchasing director Megan Minnick, who oversees Retail Ready. In that time, there have been 22 participants; 18 of them “graduated” to be regular vendors at the Co-op. Regulars might recognize the names Mango Man sauces, Nani Chips and Truli Julie biscotti.
Minnick says the program application form itself can get potential vendors moving in the right direction, as it forces them to make decisions on everything from packaging to finding a certified kitchen.
Minnick believes this program is unique to Willy Street. “It was our brainchild and it came about because we get requests to carry local products that are not quite ready for retail — they just need a little help,” Minnick says. “I do quite a bit of speaking at co-op conferences nationally and I have introduced the concept to rooms of people from other grocery co-ops and they’re pretty excited by it — but I have not run across anyone who’s doing anything quite like it.”
Another positive aspect of Retail Ready, says Minnick, is that co-op owners are part of the process. Feedback forms that shoppers fill out ask questions about flavor, price and packaging. Minnick says customer feedback helped a vendor better package their baby food so it was clear the product was meant for babies.
At the end of the month, the Co-op prepares a report including all comments. Actual sales are as important as the comments, and are also reported back to the vendor.
Laurel Burleson of the Ugly Apple food cart got her apple straps, a natural dehydrated fruit leather made from local apples and no added sugar, into the Lab for March. “I’m from a culinary background and I’ve been doing the cart, but I’d never had a product in a grocery store before,” says Burleson. “I wanted the apple straps to be for a larger audience but wasn’t sure of all the ins and outs of how to market something well for retail. Getting that feedback from the Co-op is super appealing.”
Megan Hile of Madison Chocolate Company, the featured vendor for February, notes that the knowledge exchange goes both ways: “Customers like to know who’s making their product.” Hile says she learned the most about how the packaging of a retail product has to do the job of telling the company’s story, something she and her staff can do in person from her Monroe Street shop.
Coming up as April’s featured vendor is Reinvent Ferment, from Appleton. Co-owner Karen Riggers says she is eager for the “amazing opportunity for feedback” from Willy Street Co-op shoppers. Riggers will bring four of her fermented products — garlic onion kraut, vegan mustard green kimchi, a banh mi pickle and a curry cauliflower — to the Retail Ready Lab. In addition to tastings each weekend, the products will be on sale throughout the month and feedback forms are always available. The complete schedule is available at willystreet.coop/events.
