Aeriefae aromatherapy jewelry is handmade right here in Olympia by staff member Kaia using a wide variety of crystals and stone beads and lava stones which are natural essential oil diffusers. She uses sterling silver ear wires and sterling silver chains and they come unscented so that you can add your own oils if desired. We sell the necklaces at the Eastside while the earrings are available at both stores.

We have a variety of lovely local winter squash including delicata, butternut and acorn from a variety of local farms including Kingfisher, Wobbly Cart and Piece by Piece.

New regional honey from Rochester WA

“This honey is more than a sweet treat, it’s a medicinal gift form the bees and plants of our region. Our bees are raised in the fertile lands around Olympia, Washington, where they thrive free from treatments with synthetic chemicals and pesticides. This honey is harvested in small batches from a diverse range of wildflowers, trees and plants, capturing the essence of the land. Gently strained and never heated above natural hive temperatures, it contains traces of pollen and propolis and retains all of its medicinal properties and superb taste. Thank you for supporting the bees and this sacred work.”  — Honey bird Apiary Team

Nothing says fall around here like fresh apples from nearby farms. We have delicious honeycrisp grown right here in Washington.

Made with love in Northeast Portland! “We strive to create delicious, healthy, and beautiful desserts, from the highest-quality, most nourishing ingredients. All of our desserts are naturally vegan and gluten-free. Our process preserves the natural flavors and nutritional integrity of the ingredients. Some of the flavors are raw; some are raw-inspired. All of them are Rawdacious.

​We use organic and locally sourced ingredients when available, and are committed to being good stewards of the environment in our daily business practices.”

From the cooler…

OlyCultures by OlyKraut’s Basic Kombucha Starter Kit includes one live Kombucha SCOBY (or “mother”) and instructions to start brewing your own kombucha at home.  It will continue to multiply and provide a delicious, probiotic drink for as long as it’s fed and maintained according to instructions.

*OlyCultures Kombucha Starter Kit gets its power from live probiotics; therefore it must be refrigerated.

New at the Eastside, hyper local honey from Oly Bee Co LLC!

A little more in their own words:

“I originally intended to become a biochemist when I was in college but life had some unexpected turns for me and I ended up in beekeeping and NFT art. It is work that I absolutely love and it has the happy side effect of providing tasty honey for people and helping the ecosystem and bee population. I love my work and do my best to provide great products.”

Come check out this great new local honey!

The Bread Peddler’s goal is to create the best tasting foods by baking from scratch using old world techniques. They are located in downtown Olympia on State and Capitol, the historic site of the first territorial legislature of Washington, and the site of the historic Pacific Hotel and Restaurant. Today, we are a meeting place for the local community and visitors, featuring locally roasted coffee, authentic French pastries, and a cornucopia of different kinds of artisan-crafted bread, mainly sourdough. Our sandwiches, reflective of French bakery fare, are crafted with the same care as our bread and pastries. Simply garnished, their ingredients feature premium meats, artisan cheeses, local produce, and slow cooking techniques designed to bring out flavors. Learn more

Our Eastside offers local coffee from Covabrelli Coffee whose motto is “Life’s too short to drink bad coffee.” This company is located right in Tumwater! Here’s some of their story:

“Tumwater, Wa has a storied history of craft brewing dating back to the Capital Brewing Co. built below Tumwater Falls by the Leopold Schmidt family in 1896. This iconic company became the Olympia Brewing Co. in 1902, using the phrase “It’s the Water” to showcase it’s beer made with Artisan well water. Though the Olympia Brewery is closed, its impact on the Northwest is still felt to this day. We want to carry on the tradition of exceptional regional craft brewing through coffee.

Covabrelli Coffee exists to grow relationships through ethically sourced, exceptionally roasted, fresh organic coffee. Everyone who drinks coffee knows what bad coffee tastes like. Cream and sugar can help make a bad cup of coffee more tolerable. We want our customers to enjoy coffee for how amazing it really tastes. Lou, Covabrelli’s founder, has been developing his craft doing small batch roasting for over 18 years. He began roasting on a small 3K drum roaster at his home. Now uses a more sophisticated 10K roaster that records every batch profile on his computer. Cupping almost every batch for quality and keeping detailed roast logs has helped Lou produce amazing results in the cup. His meticulous attention to detail can be tasted in every roast we produce. We offer a variety of coffee from the major coffee growing regions around the world, 2 espresso blends, and one water processed decaf. Team Covabrelli is committed to promote sustainability at every level of our company. Our coffee comes from cooperatives representing the 4 major growing regions (Africa, South America, Central America & Indonesia) that are certified organic. Taste & see the Covabrelli difference for yourself.

Most people who drink a great cup of coffee either compliment the person who made it or the person who roasted it. Do you ever think about the person who grew it? We do. People grow coffee because that’s what they can do to survive and provide for their families. The average coffee farmer has a lot at stake managing his farm. Weather, leaf rust, borer beetle, antestia bug, C-market, and cost of labor are just a few of their challenges. What are we doing to help? Covabrelli buys coffee from partner companies that provide resources to coffee farmers and cooperatives so that they can thrive. Atlas Coffee in Seattle, Onyx Coffee in Bellingham and Royal Coffee in San Francisco are a few of our partners. We’ve traveled to Finca Vista Hermosa in Guatemala to learn first hand what life is like for a coffee grower and hope for the opportunity to visit other farms in the future. As you can see above, producing excellent coffee is a labor of love.”

More at https://www.covabrelli.com/

Beautiful local art cards by Mian Bond Carvin aka gumption girl pictures.

We currently have beautiful flower bouquets grown right here in Olympia by Cedar Slope Farm. (Supply does ebb and flow so call first if you’re coming to pick one up!) Learn more about Cedar Slope here.

Egg Lady eggs are on sale now through September 3rd at both stores! At $5.99 instead of $7.99 that’s quite a deal on these wonderful local eggs from a woman owned business.

These ready to go salads are a brand new fast and healthy offering in the grab and go cooler at the Eastside. Made right here in Olympia and packaged sustainably in a glass jar. There’s a jar deposit included in the price which you get back when you return it to store.

“At HOTBABE-HOTSAUCE™ we celebrate and promote the rich cultural diversity of the Caribbean peoples’ cuisine by creating delicious Heat with Flavor™ Caribbean style hot sauces using fresh, quality ingredients and 100% locally grown Caribbean peppers.”

Our promise is that each hot sauce we create is a healthy and delicious journey into the unique flavors of Caribbean cuisine, with an occasional PNW twist!

https://www.hotbabe-hotsauce.com/

Gold Star Salve
Organic calendula turmeric and lemon balm, available at both stores!

Now at the Eastside, Magic Kombucha vinegar! Great in beverages and however you might use a champagne style vinegar.

Beautiful bright zodiac shirts made by Anargonic Creations aka Bradley Naragon, a local Olympia artis.

Come by the eastside and check them out!

New at both stores, Soul Sweet vegan cinnamon rolls are made right here in Olympia and delivered Wednesday and Saturday.

Healthy Cultures are now available at our Westside location. Located in Tumwater, they use all fresh natural ingredients, and no chemical additives or preservatives. Supporting local farms is very important to them as well and they strive to source their produce locally as much as possible.

“We use all fresh natural ingredients, and don’t use any chemical additives or preservatives. Supporting local farms is very important to us, and we strive to source our produce locally much as possible.” Find out more about them here and stop by our Westside store to pick some up!

Located in Tenino, only 16 miles away, Colvin Ranch provides us with a great choice of grass fed beef, found in the frozen meat department in both stores. The Ranch has been in the same family for five generations, first homesteaded by Ignatius Colvin, who traveled the Oregon Trail from Missouri in 1851.

All the cattle are born and raised on the Ranch, fed a diet containing no antibiotics, hormones nor additives, and graze in grass pastures where sustainable practices allow native and endangered plants to flourish. This results in a beef that is healthy, with higher levels of nutrients, including Omega 3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).

All images of the farm are provided by Colvin Ranch.

Spring Creek Farm is a small family farm in Rochester. Since beginning the business, in 1996, Chris Robinson and Melis­sa Southwick have been committed to maintaining a low environmental impact, with both the farm and the home using solar power – even to water the plants! They build their own organic soil mixes, and use biological controls for the rare pest occurrence.

Chris and Melissa are dedicated to their work, and the care they take is evident in the health and quality of their plants. For over 10 years, they have provided the Co-op with beautiful vegetable starts. They also sell blueberry bushes, fig trees, strawberries, and hops. Their farm produces many varieties of culinary herbs, such as lav­ender, mints, thyme, as well as medicinal herbs that can be hard to find, such as motherwort, skullcap, and arnica.

You can also find them at the Olympia Farmer’s Market.

For many years, Jalisco’s corn chips have been one of our highest sellers here at the Co-op. They are a family owned and operated business since 1997. Their retail store and factory is in Shelton, only 14 miles away from us!

Our stores are carrying most of their products… here is the breakdown…

Chips – eastside and westside

Maggie’s Salsa – eastside has Medium Red Salsa, Hot Red Salsa, and Hot Salsa Verde … and westside has the Medium and Hot Red Salsa

White Corn Tortillas – eastside and westside

White Flour Tortillas – eastside only

Here are some links to check out online…

Thurston Talks – a visit to the factory in 2013

FaceBook – for the latest news

Jalisco website – pictures, stories, and address to visit the store

With a passion for respect of animals and producing high quality yogurt, Keith and Selma began Flying Cow Creamery in 2013. They package in returnable glass jars made in the United States, and take efforts to educate folks about what they are doing on the farm.  Their website is full of helpful information about their animals and their production processes of the delicious, simply-made yogurt.

Here is the current news from the creamery

Here our staff visits their farm…

“It’s so nice to have a place where we local people can go and just sell at the Co-op.” – Selma Bjarnadottir

Keith and Selma with Olympia Food Co-op staff member

Speaking of growing and eating locally… how about 3 miles from the Co-op’s westside location? Introducing Calliope Farm, a family operation that is certified organic and passionate about quality and diversity. “We grow on 10 acres of beautiful silt-loam soil divided between two sites on the very edge of Olympia.  Our practices emphasize soil building cover-crops and long crop rotations, livestock integration, efficient water use, and season extension to offer our customers and employees year round produce and employment.”

Here is current news from the farm (and great photos!)

Here our staff visits their farm…

“The Olympia Food Co-op works with local farmers to foster a sense of cooperation instead of competition.” – Jacob Wilson

Jacob with Olympia Food Co-op staff member

We have enjoyed Yoga Way of Life‘s regular appearances at both stores, talking with folks, helping them to discover how Yoga Way of Life skin care products can help to meet their specific needs. Here is a profile write up from Bharti Nagal herself! And, scroll below to check out the short film about Yoga Way of Life that our staff produced!

Bharti Nagal, a Yoga and Ayurveda follower. A former IT professional, she ventured into the foray with an unflinching belief that natural and chemical free skin care products is the need of the hour. In the year 2014, she founded Yoga Way of Life, a company that has an array of natural products like topical creams, soaps, body washes, face scrubs and masks. Ms. Nagal says, “my pursuit and passion towards nature and health lead me to start an ayurvedic-style skin care line. I gathered a team of ayurvedic doctors who educated me about various aspects of doshas and worked with me to develop the recipes.” Today, Yoga Way of Life online store serves its customers all over the country with products available in more than 20 stores, mainly in Washington and Oregon states. Yoga Way of Life products are widely appreciated and accepted, thus proving the worth. Ms. Nagal believes that Yoga and Ayurveda can enhance the quality of life manifolds. Through this, one can attain the true meaning of life in a rather cohesive manner. Her belief and knowledge is the driving force to come up with Yoga Way of Life, which takes people a step close to the nature and its miraculous remedies.

Check out  Bharti’s blog and the website Yoga Way of Life

Here she meets with our staff in 2017 to discuss her products…

“I have a lot of respect for the Co-ops because they open their doors to local businesses.” ~ Bharti Nagal

Bharti with Olympia Food Co-op staff member

Honeylove Chocolates of Olympia uses organic fair trade cacao and local honey in their decadent treats. They provide delicious, scrumptious, perfectly balanced honey sweetened chocolates to discerning chocolate lovers, and to support ethical bee centered beekeepers.Visit their site for all the tasty details!

Stewart Organics in Puyallup are one of the top farms prioritized during our Local Buying season. Lots of fresh veggies all season make their way from their farm to our tables.

Stewart Organics also have been known to deliver these gorgeous dark green, bumpy Makrut limes in the winter.  Through the juice is seldom used in cooking, the peel of the fruit, with its high concentration of aromatic oils, is indispensable in many curry pastes and is one reason why Thai curries taste refreshingly unique. The zest also imparts a piquant flavor to such delectable favorites as fried fish cakes, and it blends in powerfully with spicy, chili laden stews.Their leaves are excellent in curry and soup. Thick and shiny on the top, porous and pale on the back, these leaves keep well in a refrigerator for two weeks, and can be frozen.

Their leaves are excellent in curry and soup. Thick and shiny on the top, porous and pale on the back, these leaves keep well in a refrigerator for two weeks, and can be frozen.

We have some great artisan cheeses in stock especially from this one creamery, Tieton Farm & Creamery, that we ordered directly from. This is their first time at the Co-op and we are probably the only ones selling their products in Washington State!

Here are the varieties we now carry:

Rheba
A beautiful cheese inspired by the one and only Reblochon from the Savoie region of France except this one is with a mix of Sheep and Goat’s milk instead of cow’s milk)

Black Pearl
A cute ash coated bloomy rind with same mix of sheep and goat’s milk from their herds

Bianca
Fresh sheep and goat’s milk

Venus
Made with sheep and goat milk, then bathed in cider from Tieton Cider Works

Celebrate Artisan Cheese month in October with tasting some fine Steamboat Island Goat Farm cheese. Their cheese can also be sampled in downtown restaurants, The Mark and Old School Pizzeria!

here’s the latest news from Steamboat Island Goat Farm

Fungi Perfecti is a family-owned, environmentally friendly company specializing in using mushrooms to improve the health of the planet and its people. Founded by mycologist and author Paul Stamets in 1980, we are leaders in a new wave of technologies harnessing the inherent power of mushrooms and mycelium worldwide. Fungi Perfecti is Certified Organic …. see more at Fungi Perfecti

Come check out the Pigmans Produce You Pick Pumpkin Patch the whole month of October every year. Also, you can join their CSA or visit their farm! 

For the latest news, visit their website

Dean and Jan Pigman have been working the loamy, fertile earth of their 10 acre farm in the Nisqually area for about 26 years. Over those years… more on Page 6 of Co-op News, Summer 2015

Wobbly Cart is a certified organic farm south of Olympia on the Chehalis River. They also have a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, with drop sites ranging from Olympia to Portland, including one for the employees of the Department of Ecology in Lacey!

check out the latest from Wobbly Cart!

Stephen and Rebecca Cobb started selling their Salted Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups in 2013. Within two years, they quit their day jobs and expanded their product offerings to include Cashew Cream Cheese and dairy free Cheesecake. Here is an update from Stephen in the Co-op News, page 8 of May & June 2015

Check out the latest news on their website

Their products are found at both eastside and westside Co-ops, and… at all these other locations… wow! congratulations!