Staff Picks
Welcome to the inner sanctum of deliciousness. This is where our staff—the very people who spend their days stocking shelves, sampling cheeses, and debating the merits of different heirloom tomatoes—reveal their absolute favorites. We’re talking about the secret-weapon hot sauces, the “how is this so good?” midnight snacks, and the local produce we practically hoard in the breakroom.
It’s another day, another town. Another haven for the lost. I’m sitting in a bungalow, drowning my misplaced ambitions in a mango smoothie.
I’m a copywriter for a food co-op. The assignment today: a staff pick for a pet product. I decide to write it in the style of author Charles Bukowski. First person. Lean prose. A little gritty. I walk outside and into the pedestrian archipelago. I catch the empty eyes of random faces chiseled from the stone of broken dreams.
Sometimes the world’s an angry junkyard dog. Sometimes it’s a golden retriever—tail wagging with the sweet enthusiasm of a creature bereft of all reason. We’re all just pets here, looking for laps. But some days it’s all fetch and no pats on the head.
Enter Caboo Bamboo Pet Wipes. 🐱🐶🐕🐈⬛🐾
Let’s face it: your pet has a Ph.D. in finding the exact patch of mud you desperately tried to avoid. These wipes are tough enough to handle filthy paws and questionable rear ends, yet they’re made from ultra-sustainable bamboo. It’s basically a planet-friendly dry bath minus the part where your cat Dave plots your demise for daring to suggest his little derriere wasn’t clean in the first place.
Find Caboo Pet Wipes in our Lebanon store. (Sorry, golden retriever not included.)
Because nothing says “I’ve got my life together in all the critical ways” like a new hummus.
June is National Dairy Month, which means it’s time to celebrate milk, cheese, butter, and … checks notes … chickpea hummus!
Look, we don’t make the rules, we just happily bend them. And honestly, Hummus for Dairy Month (let’s make it a thing!) is exactly the kind of beautiful, delicious chaos we live for around here. Because starting this month, we’ve stocked our Dairy Departments with something so incredibly good we don’t care what aisle it lives in—Little Sesame Hummus.
The Lineup
- Classic Hummus: The OG. Smooth, creamy, and perfect for everything from carrots to a spoon. (Han and Leb only.)
- Avocado Oil Hummus: For when you want your dip to feel a little extra luxurious. (Han and Leb only.)
- Organic Hummus for Kids: Kid-approved, parent-celebrated, and perfectly portioned. (Available at ALL three locations!)
Why We’re Obsessed
Aside from tasting like a cloud of savory perfection, the folks at Little Sesame are doing things right.
Earth First: They use 100% American chickpeas, ve grown by farmers in Montana to keep the soil happy.
Attention to Detail: No random third-party factories here. They package everything themselves at their flagship spot in Washington, D.C.
The Good Goods: Every batch is Non-GMO Project Verified and made with 100% organic ingredients.
When people think of food co-ops, they often think of bulk granola. It’s just a thing. Tell someone you’re a food co-op member and they may even ask you, “Oh, so you’re one of those crunchy granola types?”
Should we fight this stereotype, this blatant trope?
Heck no! Own it, we say!
One of our all-time favorite granolas is the crunchy magic made by our friends at Grandy Organics. Crafted with love at a 100% solar powered manufacturing facility in the beautiful lakes region of western Maine, Grandy Organics Granola is all-organic, gluten-free, incredibly unique and delicious, and basically your crunchy granola credentials in a twist-tie bag.
Food Co-op Trope Credibility Features
- Advanced Crunchy Technology: Engineered to be loud enough to drown out your visiting in-laws asking for the WiFi password.
- Birkenstock Compatible: Tastes 40% better when consumed while wearing cork-soled sandals and socks. It’s science.
- Folk Rock Compatible: Every bite subtly compels you to listen to Neil Young’s Harvest on vinyl while staring longingly at your compost bin.
- Multi-Functional: Can be eaten plain, sprinkled on yogurt, or thrown at people who don’t recycle.
The Herd is Growing Alarmed.
June is National Dairy Month, which means it’s a great time to remind you that not long ago we slashed the price of our gallon-size Co-op brand local milk to the everyday low price of $2.99!
This is NOT a sale. Repeat, not a sale.
This is our everyday, walk-in-and-gawk-at-it cost—a price so low that dairy cattle are asking for a meeting with the board.
Our milk is locally produced by the friendly cows at McNamara Dairy. We actually take a loss on this, because milk is a staple that many families depend on and it’s part of our mission to invest directly in our region’s food security.
Find Co-op brand local milk in all stores.
Summer is picnic time, and that means upping your snack game with really good potato chips.
The nice folks at Community Snacks managed to do the impossible with their amazing chips—they made a reasonably “good for you” potato chip that doesn’t taste like a flavorless roof shingle.
Here’s why this chip makes the Big Tater competition look like lackluster tuber shards:
The 10% Rule: They give 10% of all profits to fight hunger. You eat, they give. Everyone wins.
The Gold Standard Crunch: These aren’t your average thin, greasy chips. They are made with love in small batches for a serious, satisfying snap and a clean potato flavor.
Zero Regret: Vegan, Non-GMO, and Big 9 allergen-free. Woot!
Kettle Cooked: Because “regular” chips are just limp potato whispers.
Regional: Not quite local, but just down the road in Connecticut. (Hey, we’re neighbors!)
People say to us, Co-op, how is it that you manage to have so much fun writing about food? (Or maybe no one has ever said this. Whatever.)
We say, if you can’t have fun with product descriptions about artisanal raw coconut yogurt, why, what CAN you have fun with???
Seriously, Cocoyo Raw Coconut Yogurt is our latest crush—pure and unadulterated coconut crafted into a tangy, fizzy party for your weary soul. Is it dairy-free? Yes. Is it raw? Absolutely. Does it feel like spoonable cloud-magic? Guaranteed!
