While supplements have been a part of many people’s daily wellness routine for decades, the Covid pandemic highlighted the power of herbs, vitamins, and other nutrients to support our well-being. As an industry, we saw an incredible increase in demand for things like vitamin C, elderberry syrup, and NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine). At the same time, disruptions in the global supply chain highlighted the complicated path many of these products take to reach our shelves. While we are thankfully past the dark days of when the virus was new to our reality, our society continues to see a growing interest in preventative and natural health, which means we continue to see an increasing interest from new customers who are turning to supplements to support their lifestyle.
With the increase in consumer spending on supplements, we have also seen a rise in both innovation and in bad actors trying to make a quick buck. Increasingly, there have been numerous reports about fly-by-night online retailers selling products that do not contain the level of nutrient or herb promised on the bottle, and sometimes do not contain any at all. Unfortunately, the increase in demand has also led to an increase in adulteration of popular ingredients, including turmeric and CoQ10.
At the Co-op, we pride ourselves on carrying only brands we trust at the best prices we can negotiate. Many of our suppliers, including our private label manufacturer, Vitamer, have in-house labs to re-test batches of raw material they receive from their suppliers using advanced techniques to verify identity and purity, rather than just believing the accompanying certificates of quality that accompany the materials. Other suppliers, such as Natural Factors, are vertically integrated, meaning they own the farms and grow the base materials for their finished products, keeping control of their supply chain from seed to bottle. Some of our brands are making their quality control tracking transparent to customers: with Gaia products, you can scan a QR code to see the journey of the ingredients in that exact bottle. So, while you should definitely be wary of a too-good-to-be-true price when buying products online, you never have to worry about the purity of our products. We also stand behind everything we sell, so if you have a problem with a defective product or even if something disagrees with your system, you can always return it.
Another aspect of our supplement department that really stands out is the diversity of our options. Our location has led us to become a regional hotspot for our amazing selection, with customers traveling from quite far to get their products from us. We carry a variety of price points from basic to top shelf quality in almost all categories, from multivitamins and probiotics to herbs and protein powders. We also carry a robust apothecary of bulk herbs, featuring numerous local growers—one of the most economical ways to access health-supporting supplements.
Last year, we started our internal “Co+op Basics” program to make some of the most basic supplements, like multivitamins and calcium, more accessible. While you may recognize Co+op Basics for affordable food across our Co-op and other NCG member co-ops, our supplement Co+op Basics are unique to our store based on careful consideration of need and negotiation for low prices with our suppliers. We also carry customer favorites like New Chapter at prices below the typical cost because we are able to negotiate with suppliers for good deals. What’s more is that our department thrives on promotions—we have many that go for two to three weeks, and some that last a whole month. The majority of products we carry go on sale at some point during the year.
Our quality and diverse selection is matched with the incredible knowledge and experience of our department staff. Several of our staff have overcome chronic or acute illnesses within the natural health system, developing wisdom in different approaches along the way. Others bring educational backgrounds in pre-med, biology, and herbalism, which they use in their daily work with our customers. Most of our department staff have years, if not decades, of experience in the natural health industry. While our employees often suggest working with a practitioner for complex problems, we also know that our Co-op is the first and sometimes only stop for many who may not be able to access practitioner care. Our staff follows DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act) guidelines, which protects consumers from misleading and incorrect information about supplements, while helping people empower themselves to take control of their health story with the support of herbs, supplemental nutrition, and other natural products. Our team believes in self-help, self-responsibility, equity, and solidarity—all Cooperative values—when it comes to personal empowerment through natural health.
Despite our broad selection, we can’t carry every product that people are looking for. In those situations, we are happy to find what you need, or the item you want in the brand you are looking for, whenever we can; we regularly make special orders in these cases. Customers can also pre-order their favorite products, and if your order has three or more units of the same item, we give a discount of 10%, including on sale items. From time to time we also facilitate educational events for customers to deepen their supplement knowledge, and we have plans for department-wide promotions down the road to make our supplements even more accessible to our community.
At the Brattleboro Food Co-op, we are dedicated to bringing you safe, effective supplements at accessible prices. By supporting a vibrant life from prenatal to old age and giving support when your well-being is challenged by illness or distress, supplements are here to make life easier and better, and our staff is here to help navigate what is best for your needs right now. We believe our products for supporting health naturally are an essential asset for a healthy community, and we look forward to being your trail guide on your journey to vibrant health.