Ethical bulk goods store to open in McCauley

Earth’s Refillery Co-Op is a radical approach to feeding a community

Following the loss of Edmonton’s locally-owned organic grocery store, a new venture from familiar faces aims to not only fill those empty shoes, but expand on the health store model for community good.

Earth’s Refillery Co-Op is a new project from the ownership and management team of Ritchie’s former organic grocer, Earth’s General Store. With their decades of experience in health-focused goods and community engagement, the evolution to bulk goods reflects the values that Christina Neumann and her team hope to foster in the lives of their customers.

Earth’s Refillery Co-Op standing in front of their newly leased space in McCauley’s The Piazza YEG. | Photo Christina Neumann

“Our goal for the new space is to help people reduce their waste and build habits of reuse,” Neumann says.

A refillery sells food and other goods in bulk to consumers who may already have reusable packaging on hand. The result is lower costs for the consumer and less waste for households as they stock up on pantry staples and cleaning supplies.

A flagship product of Earth’s Refillery Co-Op will be freshly roasted coffee, processed in-house from ethically sourced organic beans. Customers can take fresh beans home or enjoy them in an attached cafe with hot drinks, non-dairy options, and a handful of snacks.

Another unique offering of Earth’s Refillery is its cooperative model, with decision-making including stakeholders from the employer down to the customer level. Memberships offer grocery and cafe discounts, though participation in the program is entirely optional for customers.

“We want to show that businesses can be successful while being run as a co-op,” Neumann says. “We’ve lost so many over the past few decades, but we believe there are alternatives to how big companies do business.”

Neumann’s co-op experience began at Toronto’s Karma Co-Op — a food store for a community of participating members who felt connected to the food they ate. Neumann recalls the joy of working with cooperative principles and looks forward to melding that experience with Edmonton’s ethical grocery community.

“It felt like such a tight-knit community of people who used the co-op in Toronto. It’s been a big inspiration, and they’ve been a huge help in navigating the legality and helping me where I don’t know what I’m doing,” Neumann says, laughing with optimism.

With a late-spring opening date on the horizon, community members are encouraged to be an early part of the cooperative through monetary or hands-on support. Dates and times for work bees (such as moving equipment and painting the new space) will be announced via ERC’s Facebook, Instagram, and email list.

“Besides our GoFundMe, the best way to support our launch is to pre-purchase a gift card, since it acts like a loan. Send us an e-transfer, and we’ll convert those funds into a gift card with a five per-cent bonus as a thank-you,” Neumann explains. “It gives an extra incentive to donors, and we hope to use that money to source the rest of our equipment and inventory.”

With new shopping experiences like ERC, business is booming for independent producers and shoppers in our neighbourhood.

“I’m really looking forward to getting more involved with the community, making connections, and taking opportunities to be a blueprint of something a little alternative,” says Neumann. “We want to be a business that leads by example.”