The Portland Food Co-op is currently ordering on a regular basis from three vendors: United Natural Foods, Crown O’ Maine Organic Cooperative, and Frontier Natural Products Cooperative. To supplement the types of products available through these distributors, we also order direct from several Maine producers. Each month brings a new list of products that is available from an array of local businesses. Through our vendor options member-owners have access to buying all their groceries through the co-op.
Because all of our purchasing is done by member-owners selecting the products they would like from each vendor, we can provide access to thousands of items. Below is more information about the offerings of each vendor.
The Crown of Maine Organic Cooperative is our most popular vendor. Through Crown of Maine, our member-owners have access to an impressive array of Maine-grown and produced foods and goods. Some of the most popular items are raw milk, yogurt and cheese, eggs, organic meats, apples (grown in Maine and available all winter long), vegetables of all kinds including root vegetables and some greens through the winter, frozen berries, cider, tofu and tempeh (yes, Maine-made with Maine-grown soy), spelt products, canola oil, sea salt, and fermented foods. Chances are pretty good that if it is sustainably grown and made in Maine, Crown of Maine is going to carry it.
Frontier Natural Products Co-op is a national-level co-op that provides natural and organic products. They are a hit with our member-owners for their discounted herbs, spices, teas, aromatherapy products, vitamins, cleaning products, and the huge variety of body care items including toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos, baby diapers, toilet paper, feminine products, soaps, and lotions.
United Natural Foods sells over 60,000 natural, organic, and specialty products, which gives member-owners a much wider variety to choose from than can be found at the grocery stores in the Portland area. Favorite United products our member-owners buy are bulk grains, beans, nuts and nut butters, a wide array of gluten-free foods, organic pastas, fair-trade organic chocolates, and organic sesame and olive oils.
Producer-direct is our name for the orders we place directly with Maine farmers and producers. Each month we purchase from three or four different businesses, so it is always different and offers our member-owners access to a variety of local (and sometimes beyond) products at competitive prices. Some of the past orders have included maple syrup, maine-made granola, locally-roasted coffee, gelato, seaweed products, Thanksgiving turkeys and cranberries, blueberries, mushrooms, and fresh bread. If you are a vendor interested in selling to the co-op, please see our vendor page.
Our current buying process
As a new small co-op, each week we offer member-owners the online catalogs of a different vendor or group of producers. Member-owners then choose the items they would like and place their orders. One week later the food is ready to be picked up at the co-op site. As we are located in a shared space and we have no paid staff, our pick up times are currently limited to one hour for each order cycle. Most of these pick up times are 6:00pm-7:00pm on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. As our member-ownership grows we will have the capacity to rent our own space, where we can create a more convenient buying process, which will include building a retail co-op store.
By becoming a member-owner now you can choose from thousands of local, natural, and organic products to stock your home, while helping us grow into a retail co-op. Please join us in our orders by becoming a member-owner!