Great Barrington — The Berkshire Food Co-op, located at 34 Bridge Street, will have an owner drive from Friday, May 2, to Sunday, May 4.
The store will host several events over the course of the three-day owner drive, including samples from local vendors and a question-and-answer session with Co-op leadership and board members, along with other activities.
According to its website, the Co-op first opened on Rosseter Street in November 1981 with 160 owners. It moved to an expanded location at 42 Bridge Street in October 2003. In June 2019, the Co-op moved into its current location at 34 Bridge Street, a 7,600-square-foot building built specifically for the shop.
Throughout the building is a variety of locally grown produce from various farms throughout the area, along with meat, seafood, and various other grocery products.
According to Co-op Marketing Manager Devorah Sawyer, the Co-op now has 5,800 owners. “We haven’t had an owner drive in several years, and we’re excited to do this again,” Sawyer told The Berkshire Edge. “We used to have an ownership drive every quarter, but for the past few years we have been focusing on other priorities.”
Sawyer said that the Co-op continues to thrive despite current challenges facing grocery businesses. “Prices are rising, and some of that is due to tariff threats,” explained Sawyer. “We have been focusing on getting products from our local vendors because they won’t be directly affected [by tariffs] as quickly. This is why now is a great time for people to support our farmers and producers. For our owners, we have a buying club that allows them to buy larger quantities of their essentials at a discounted rate. This is why owners can place orders as often as they want.”
Sawyer explained that, with rising prices, the buying club is a great way for owners to stock up on necessary items before prices rise even further. “When it comes to these challenges with rising prices, we are taking things one day at a time,” they said. “We are constantly in communication with National Co-op Grocers, an organization that is a big resource for us and other co-ops around the country. Together, all of the co-ops nationally are relying on our group buying power to keep our prices as low as possible.”
According to Sawyer, supporting local farms is one of the core missions of the Berkshire Food Co-op. “Sometimes people tend to forget [that] their food comes from farms,” Sawyer said. “This is why we will have local vendors at the Co-op on May 2 to talk to potential owners about what they do. A lot of people believe that food comes from a grocery store. This type of event that we are going to have is a reminder that there are large teams of really dedicated people who make what is sitting on the shelf. The Co-op is not just a grocery store because there is a whole lot of work that goes into what you eat.”
The Co-op also includes a bakery with pastries and other baked goods made on site and a cafe featuring sandwiches, a salad bar, and a sushi bar.
“We spend a lot of time curating all of the products that we sell at the Co-op,” said Berkshire Food Co-op General Manager Jessica Bosworth. “We want to be the grocery store of choice where people choose to buy their everyday essentials. The Co-op works hard to be affordable to everyone, and we work hard to offer a range of products that will appeal to all sorts of shoppers, whether it is longtime owners, or people just visiting or visiting the store. There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into what we carry and why we carry it, and everyone’s super passionate about that. It’s not lip service because we practice everything that we preach, and I think we do a good job of it.”
For more information about the Berkshire Food Co-op, including its owner drive, visit its website.
