FORT WAYNE — 3 Rivers Food Co-op / Natural Grocery is celebrating 50 years with events that include live music in the cafe and wine tastings. The theme for the year is Naturally Rooted for You.
The grocery got its start Oct. 1, 1976, after beginning as a buying club with a few families that shared bulk quantities of naturally processed grains, flours, rice, and sweeteners.
“Everyone talks now about wanting a downtown grocery store, which of course we’re getting one,” Heather Grady, 3 Rivers’ marketing manager said, referring to the one under construction on Pearl Street by Surack Enterprises. “But when we were looking at places in 2001, 2002, obviously, the downtown trajectory wasn’t what it was now. … With the growth of downtown, pretty soon we will be a downtown grocery store.”
Riverfront development has reached north of the St. Marys River to Fourth Street, coming closer to 3 Rivers. It spent its early years on Broadway in two spots, and then in 2003, moved just north of downtown to open a much larger storefront at 1612 Sherman Blvd.
The store offers local and organic produce, non-GMO and natural groceries, personal care and health/wellness items, and a small deli serving soups, coffee drinks, housemade salads and baked goods.
Grady started as a volunteer in 1998. “I had just move to Fort Wayne, and I had volunteered at a food co-op in Champaign, (Illinois,) where I was living, and so I wanted to do the same, so I could get to know folks in the community. I have a commitment to environmental issues, eating healthier, and I’ve been a vegetarian for a long, long time.”
The public can come in and shop for food for specific dietary needs such as gluten free, vegan, vegetarian and Kosher. The co-op sells beef tallow and a large selection of tinned fish, which are a couple of items trending now. Its wellness area includes natural makeup, several options for vitamins and tinctures, as well as bars of soap made by the local Old Fort Soap Co. Often it gets calls about the latest TikTok trend, Grady said. It received requests for different forms of sea moss, a nutrient, so those are now on the shelves.
“If we learned one really big thing during COVID it was how diverse our shoppers are,” Grady said. “…One of the dividing issues (at our former sites) on Broadway was whether to sell meat because we didn’t sell meat at that point. It was one of those things that was very controversial.”
During the pandemic, they saw customers shopping for many reasons: environmental, bulk items, container reuse, vitamins and wellness, living close by, commitment to shopping locally, Grady said. The bulk area has a wide variety of spices, grains and beans.
Unlike other groups, it won’t get involved in politics, such as the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“We always say that we remain neutral in all things but food,” Grady said.
Over the summer, shoppers nationwide worried about even buying healthy foods after the Cyclospora parasite contaminated shredded iceberg lettuce in multiple states. Grady also pointed to a recent recall of guacamole by Whole Foods for a potential salmonella contamination.
“We pride ourselves on bringing lots of local things to the community, and none of that in this timeframe has touched the locally produced things,” she said.
3 Rivers has a relationship with eight regional farms, including Joyfield Farms of North Manchester, which supplies items that include Walla sweet onions and flower bouquets, and BroxonBerry of Markle that supplies lettuce and basil that the food co-op sells.
As a food co-op, 3 Rivers is co-operatively owned by over 2,300 “owners” who have purchased an equity share in the store. All profits are reinvested in the store. Memberships start at $37, with a total equity investment costing $200 with a $12 annual membership fee.
The co-op’s deli has shrunk in the last year. It no longer provides made-to-order sandwiches or juices, but it has a new espresso machine, and the hot bar has been converted to a soup bar. Every day customers can choose among three self-serve options. “We’ve doubled our food sales by doing that,” Grady said.
Premade deli sandwiches and deli salads, sliced meats and cheese, and baked goods are in the refrigerated case. With COVID causing a decline in sales of breakfast items such as muffins the co-op began stocking more cookies and cakes. On this day, vegan orange, carrot and black magic cake slices are for sale.
To open its year of festivities 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 19 the hot bar will return for the day. It will feature favorite dishes, the signature Tofu Reuben sandwich will be made to order, and special birthday café drinks will be available. From 4-6 p.m. local food vendors will set up in the parking lot with items for purchase: Davey’s Delicious Bagels, MVP Jazz & Ginger Juice, The Flavor Patch, and Yodi’s Toasties plan to be there. Lve music will be in the café from noon-2 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. In addition, the co-op’s 50th anniversary T-shirt design and gear will be debuted.
Events through the year will include wine and hard cider tastings, local artist pop-up sales, raffles, giveaways, and discount days for member-owners. The co-op hopes to provide education events with the Miami tribe and Creative Women of the World. Further details are available in store or on the website newsletter at www.3riversfood.coop.
The store is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
Fort Wayne has seen an influx of chain businesses, Grady said. “But Fort Wayne also loves commitment to long-standing local businesses,” she said. “So, it’s great for us to be able to continue to offer, to be owned by the community and to be able to say we’ve been around for 50 years.”
