Daiya Deliciously Dairy-Free®, grilled cheese sandwiches make a comeback with products like Galaxy Nutritional Foods Vegan Slices®, and Vegan Gourmet® makes block cheeses that can be sliced, grated or melted for use in a wide variety of dishes.
In creating desserts, we use many vegan alternatives to butter, cream cheese, marshmallows, sour cream, milk, sugar and more. (More on vegan sugars in Chapter 7.) These products aren’t difficult to find, if you’re in a major metropolitan area. If you’re lucky enough to live within hollerin’ distance of a Whole Foods Market or similar natural foods-friendly chain grocer, vegan alternatives are already waiting for you to scoop them into your organic cotton shopping bag.
So, what about the folks like Christina-Marie, who live in rural America, opting for open spaces and beauty over convenience and mass-transit?
Don’t lose hope. Getting your nimble vegan hands on these fine products may require a bit of ingenuity and planning, but it’s not impossible. In fact, it’s even easier if you have a network of vegan friends who can split large-quantity orders with you, so don’t be shy about connecting with other vegans in your area.
For the purposes of this book, we’ll be discussing three different venues through which to obtain your vegan treasures:
Small, independent natural foods stores or grocers.
Larger chain grocers who may not regularly cater to vegan clientele.
Shopping online through vegan websites.
Your Local Indie Natural Foods Store or
Grocer: Support Your Community
Just because your local indie foods stores are small doesn’t mean they don’t have connections or ordering power. Perhaps, like Christina-Marie’s favorite independent natural foods store, Bear Foods of Chelan, Washington, they just don’t have enough demand to warrant stocking certain items on their shelves. Remember that every product in inventory is an expense for your shop owner until it sells.
We like to patronize local independent businesses whenever possible. According to Indiebound.org, when you spend $100.00 at a local business, $68.00 stays in your local community, compared to $43.00 of every $100.00 spent at a national chain store. Shopping local also means more taxes get reinvested in your local community, and local jobs are created for community members.
The benefits of patronizing local independent shops don’t end there. Indie-bound claims shopping local helps the environment, because less packaging and fossil fuels are involved in transportation. For example, Christina-Marie’s local natural foods store stocks and sells local produce and handmade goods, whenever possible.
Best of all, shopping at a small local store means a direct connection to the owners and employees. When Christina-Marie walks through the door of Bear Foods, folks know her by name—and not just because her face appears next to her newspaper column in the local newspaper. They know if her order has come in, which new products in which she’s likely to be interested, and which vitamins, liquid pain relievers and fruit snacks are free of the red dye to which her kids are allergic.
So, when she needs a particular ingredient, she asks the inventory manager at Bear Foods to order it for her. Sometimes, if it’s a product the manager doesn’t feel will sell quickly enough, she’ll ask Christina-Marie to buy an entire case or other minimum order so the manager won’t end up sitting on inventory that can’t be sold.
This is where having a circle of vegan friends comes in handy. Perhaps Christina-Marie can’t use a case of vegan marshmallows (actually, she probably could, so great is her love for marshmallows), but she can certainly split a case with four friends.
Your Local Retail Chain Supermarket:
Use Their Buying Power
As you can see from the explanation above, bigger isn’t always better. However, if your local independent food store can’t order what you need for some reason, it’s worth a shot to approach your local retail chain store. In many cases, the larger store may be able to access your product at a lower price than an independent shop. Your personal finances and world view will determine if cost is the most important element in acquiring and buying vegan products.
Christina-Marie has successfully sweet-talked her local retail grocer into carrying specific items by filling out comment cards, leaving feedback online at the corporate website, and speaking with department managers. The last technique has proven by far the most effective, perhaps because the manager is forced to see her adorable, pouty face when the grocer even considers saying that the store can’t order an item. It also helps if you, like Christina-Marie, have seven children you can crowd into the manager’s office. At that point, even the most resistant non-vegan usually breaks down and does whatever it takes to get such a brood out of his or her proximity.
In all seriousness, most managers will be receptive to your request. After all, they want you to shop in their store, and through your request they may see they’re missing out on potential sales from vegan consumers. Even if the store is not willing to stock your specific product on a regular basis, they may be willing to place a special order for you—provided you purchase the entire case or minimum packaging quantity. Again, it’s nice to have friends who will split the order and expense with you, if at all possible.
Christina-Marie has launched successful comment card and website feedback campaigns, resulting in her local retail chain store carrying certain items, but it required organization, determination and persistence she doesn’t always have time for these days (did we mention her seven children?). Still, it’s possible.
First, fill out a comment card at the store’s customer service counter, explaining that you walked into the store, hoping to find a specific product, but were unable to locate it. Describe the product with as much detail as possible, including a brand name, so the inventory clerk can search for it through the store’s suppliers. Express your desire for the store to carry the product. Add that you enjoy shopping there, and would like to be able to complete your shopping, in its entirety, within one store. Be sure to include your contact information so the manager can call or email you with questions – or to let you know your product is now on the shelves of the store.
Ask your friends—whether vegan or not—to fill out comment cards requesting the product, and fill out a new comment card each time you shop. Locate the corporate website for the company, and leave similar feedback through the customer service link. Send emails to your friends, with feedback they can copy and paste, along with a link to the corporate customer service department. When your local chain sees several comment cards requesting a specific item, it’s bound to trigger a proactive response. Likewise, if the corporate center sees a spike in requests for a particular product, it may make sense for the company to start stocking the item or brand on a national scale.
What? What’s that? That sounds like a lot of work, and will take a long time? You’re right. It certainly can, as almost all grassroots movements do. Don’t let that dissuade you, though! While you’re working your campaign, you can always order products online to tide you over until your ultimate goal of global retail renovation takes place.
Ordering Online: Specialty Vegan Items
with a Few Keystrokes and a Click
If you have internet access, the ability to plan ahead, and the patience to wait on shipping, ordering online is an excellent option for purchasing products you can’t find near you. The upside is almost anything can be found online. The downside is waiting for your order to arrive, and paying shipping and handling charges. Of course,
