Written by Sustainable Lafayette based on visiting the store and interviewing Connie Collier (conniecollier@gmail.com), daughter of owner Ed Stokes.
Challenge
Diablo Foods has been serving Lamorinda residents for over 40 years, priding themselves in listening and responding to their customer’s wishes and making it a community grocery store where the customers feel a sense of ownership. Daniel Collier, grandson of founder Ed Stokes, said he collects new customer requests every day and pulled a few out of his pocket that had been submitted just that morning (see picture). To meet many of those needs “Diablo Foods is constantly thirsty and hungry for new products, especially from local vendors” added Connie Collier, daughter of Ed Stokes.
In the past couple years, customers have been increasingly looking for locally-produced and green products. “People are really getting it. They don’t want waste. They want to help the environment, and do good,” said Connie. So, responding to customers as they always do, Diablo Foods has been adding even more local and green products. The challenge is how to let the community know about all of these new products and also how to highlight them in the store.
Solution Details
Diablo Foods came up with a clever solution. Starting in February 2009 they started labeling local products with a shelf talker that simply says “LOCAL.” Connie has spearheaded this effort and said “We are local, so it is natural to promote that concept. We love working with local vendors that have unique products. We are all on the same team.” She also pointed out that it’s easy for them as a single store to carry products from small, local vendors. “We can carry whatever our customers want and don’t have to worry about finding vendors and suppliers that can handle the volume demanded by a large chain of stores.”
Now, when you walk around the store, there seem to be “LOCAL” signs everywhere! Connie said that “Local” could mean produced right in Lamorinda or from the greater Bay Area, depending on the product category. For example, there is honey from Lamorinda, fresh fish from San Francisco, and fresh flowers from Petaluma.
Following is a summary of the main types of local and green products carried at Diablo Foods and a sampling of some of the specific products in the store:
Local Produce – Diablo has begun highlighting produce that is from local farms. They carried locally grown apples in the fall and are expecting local cherries soon.
Local Meats – Chicken from Petaluma. Lamb from Dixon. Seafood from San Francisco, including sand dabs, petrole sole, and red snapper.
Green Household Products – Recycled paper towels, tissues, napkins, cleaning supplies, and picnic supplies. Starting last October Diablo began carrying organic cosmetic and cleaning products from Chartreuse, which were created by a Lafayette mother—Laurie Walter.
Local Dairy – Many items including a wide variety of cheeses from Marin and Sonoma counties. Suzanne Koplos is a gourmet and an expert on local cheeses.
Local Specialty Products – Olive oil, pancake mix, coffee, chocolate sauce, BBQ sauce, dressings, honey, tomato sauce, jams, and many other items. Diablo recently began carrying Capay Olive Oil owned by the Lutskos who live on the hill behind Diablo Foods and grow their olives in Capay Valley, 80 miles away.
Local Baked Goods – Many items from Cake Box Bakery based right in Lafayette and the Walnut Creek Baking Company in Walnut Creek.
Local and Green Children’s Products – Green diapers, re-usable lunch bags, and re-usable water bottles. Diablo carries ECOlunchboxes created by Sandra Harris, another Lafayette mom.
Local Wine & Beer – Parkmon Vineyard in Moraga and many other wines from East Bay wineries. Black Diamond Beer from Concord.
Deli Items – Everything is cooked and prepared on-site.
TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR OF LOCAL AND GREEN PRODUCTS AT DIABLO FOODS.
Benefits & Payback
By offering local food products, Diablo Foods is helping to reduce the energy and emissions from transporting food long distances. The average produce item in the U.S. travels 1500 miles from farm to refrigerator.
By offering products from local vendors, Diablo Foods is supporting local small businesses and helping the Lamorinda business community thrive by putting shopping dollars back into the community.
By offering green products, like paper towels made from 100% recycled material, Diablo Foods is helping to reduce the demand on our natural resources like trees. According to Ideal Bite, If every household in the US replaced one roll of non-recycled paper towels with a roll of 100% recycled paper towels, we would save 864,000 trees and 3.4 million cubic feet of landfill space.
Of course, the most important benefit is to see the smile on the faces of customers that are satisfied with the unique collection of products that they request and want.
Informational Links
Article about Diablo Foods in Lamorinda Weekly
Chartreuse Products
ECOlunchboxes
Bo’s Best Pancake & Waffle Mixes
