Shopping locally has become more convenient for Kettle Valley Food Co-op members with the addition of an online shopping system.

The co-op’s online store has been in operation for about three weeks, according to Sheila Dobie, a co-op member, producer and volunteer, and there are a number of locally produced items available for sale – one of the cooperative’s goals is to provide access to local food after all.

The products from the Grand Forks area include:

• Jerseyland Organics providing dairy products such as cheese and yogurt,

• Trust in Nature’s herbal and medicinal teas,

• Spencer Hill Orchard with its fruit and garlic and

• Mobetta Farm’s seasonal vegetables.

“We have all the latest veggies that are available,” explained Dobie. “Whatever’s currently being harvested from two organic farms, so it’s consisting of the early vegetables so far and that will be changing as the season progresses.”

Christina Lake’s From the Hearth Bakery provides the baked goods such as bread and cookies.

Orders can be placed from kettlevalleyfoodcoop.org/shop/ and Dobie says that you can purchase a membership at the same time as you place your first order, as membership is mandatory, although you can peruse the product list without being a member.

“We order once a week,” Dobie says.

“The shopping deadline is Sunday midnight, the orders are filled on Wednesday and the next order opens up midnight on Thursday with all the updates from the producers and all the different changes and edits they’ve made.”

The Kettle Valley Food Co-op would ultimately like to run a store but that isn’t an option at the moment.

“Our long-term vision is a store front. We would like to open a store for that convenience for (members) but we don’t have the money to do that,” Dobie explained

“The online ordering system was thought to be a way to get us started, to get people shopping and get us to start making some money with as low overhead as possible.”

She says that the co-op would like to build up connections with local producers, the product line and eventually, the aforementioned storefront.

“Hopefully, down the line, we’ll have enough of a client base and a shopping base to justify building a bigger system that involves an outlet, retail and cut-and-wrap for local meat as well,” she said.

The online software was developed in the U.S. and was shared with a co-op in the Ottawa Valley who then offered it to others.

“It’s an elaborate system that we’ve morphed and shaped to suit our needs and basically has not cost us a thing,” Dobie said.

There are some techies within the cooperative to help with web issues and while the online operation has seen some small glitches in its three weeks of existence, overall, there haven’t been any major problems.

“There have been a few minor (problems) in the startup. Some people have been having some login problems but overall, I think it’s been very, very smooth,” said Dobie.