In 2020, Co-op Partners Warehouse (CPW) created a direct partnership with Equal Exchange (EE) to become a distribution hub for EE Fair Trade Organic bananas and avocados. We are proud of this co-op-to-co-op connection— Equal Exchange is cooperatively owned, their growers are small farmer cooperatives, and CPW is part of the TCCP cooperative organization. The… Read More →
By Rick Christianson, Co-op Partners Warehouse Produce Buyer Farming has always been a difficult endeavor, but with the exception of the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, there may never have been a time where weather-related issues have put more strain on the food supply system. Considering the likely trajectory of climate change, agriculture sits… Read More →
Co-op Partners Warehouse (CPW) has always donated non-saleable produce items to local food organizations. Until last April, nonprofit groups were invited to “shop” a food bank at the warehouse to find items they needed. But when the pandemic began in March, CPW staff streamlined the donation process, strengthened their relationships with key food-rescue partners, increased… Read More →
This year, we’re celebrating the Power of We. The Power of We runs through the seeds planted by local farmers to the produce they drop off at Co-op Partners Warehouse, to the hands of the staff person who stocks the co-op shelves, to your kitchen table. It’s the understanding that by collectively building a local… Read More →
By Dana Nelson and Emily Paul of MCK TCCP is a proud partner of Minnesota Central Kitchen (MCK), preparing 2,400 meals a week in our commissary kitchen and regularly donating unsaleable produce from Co-op Partners Warehouse. We reached out to learn a little bit more about them and their important work in addressing the hunger…
Like all of you, we are in mourning about George Floyd’s death. We are angry about the inequity and injustice that exists in our community. We are devastated by the destruction in our neighborhoods and across the cities. Yet, we are inspired by how community members have joined together to clean up their neighborhoods and… Read More →
By Leigh McCarren, Ownership & Outreach Specialist Co-op Partners Warehouse is TCCP’s organic and local produce and grocery distributor, located in St. Paul. You recently got promoted to the Quality Control Sustainability Shift Lead at Co-op Partners Warehouse (CPW). What brought you to this role? Being the co-founder of Zero Waste Saint Paul, I am… Read More →
By Deb Kermeen, TCCP CFO The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 (July 1, 2019–June 30, 2020) budget was prepared by TCCP management, reviewed by the board’s finance committee, and approved by the board at their June 2019 meeting. We are budgeting for positive net income of $462,411 in FY2020. Net income was $111,873 in FY2019. Total… Read More →
A community helps rebuild a farm after a devastating fire By Chelsea Korth, Co-op Partners Warehouse Sales Manager Husband and wife Troy and Barb DeRosier opened Crystal Ball Farms seventeen years ago in 2002. Their family-owned farm sits on several acres of grassy pasture in the St. Croix River Valley of Osceola, Wisconsin. The DeRosiers…
At our co-op, supporting local goes beyond working with local farmers and producers to sell product in our stores. It means building meaningful partnerships with unique local food businesses who have incredible food and big ideas. It means increasing access to local foods for other co-ops, restaurants and businesses through Co-op Partners Warehouse. It means… Read More →
