At Oliver’s, we’ve always known that to keep a community thriving, you have to support its artisans. We also know that if you want to offer products of the highest possible quality, the best place to look is in your own backyard! Oliver’s Markets strive to offer our customers the finest selection of natural, conventional, and specialty products available. This mission begins with a commitment to support the community through hundreds of local partners including farmers and producers of food, beverage, and wellness products. Oliver’s carries over 6,000 locally produced products, which account for 29.6% of sales annually, and we were a founding member of Sonoma County GO LOCAL in 2009 before earning our Green Business Certification from the Sonoma County Green Business Program in 2011.
Since then, we have continued to bring Sonoma County into everything we do. Whether it’s the time-tested relationships fostered with local vendors or our involvement with programs like the Ceres Project, our focus is always on supporting and uplifting the community. You don’t have search hard to find the fruits of our labor either – we’ve actually done it for you! In an annual case study compiled by Dr. Robert Eyler of “Economic Forensics and Annalytics”, it is clearly shown that local sourcing at Oliver’s has a measurable positive impact on the local economy: “Oliver’s generates over 68 percent more local economic impacts in business revenues (and about 61 percent more jobs) than the non-local grocer/retailer example. This difference implies that for every $100 spent at Oliver’s, there are $186 of economic impacts created for the Sonoma County economy…. When buying the same goods at a national or regional chain with 18.4 percent local, the same $100 bag of groceries only circulates $116 in Sonoma County.”
Dr. Eyler goes on to state that a “regional purchasing strategy, in essence, connects links in supply chains locally and reduces the amount of income ‘leakage’ that happens when grocers and retailers source the goods they sell from vendors outside the local area.” To put it plainly, by sourcing as much as we can locally, we keep more money circulating in the local community; after all, it’s a lot harder to contribute to the Sonoma County economy when you don’t actually live in Sonoma County. Sure, we may not make as much money as we could sourcing this way, but it’s more than worth the loss given how much our community benefits as a result. This isn’t just benefit in terms of pure profit either – along with business revenue, this investment in the local economy also creates thousands of jobs and additional tax revenue, and that’s not even mentioning the money our employees spend. When customers choose to shop with Oliver’s, they choose to support not only us but the entire community as a whole.
We experienced some of the more surprising benefits to this system for ourselves just this year. COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the national and international supply chains; as a result, certain essential goods that are normally readily available have become scarce, occasionally disappearing entirely, and sadly, this has meant hardships for all those dependent on these supply chains. With our supply chain centered squarely in Sonoma County, Oliver’s has been undeniably and incredibly lucky. Rarely have we had to face the kind of shortages felt so keenly elsewhere in the country, and we can lay our thanks squarely at the feet of our local vendors; without their dedication, it would have been impossible for us to provide for our customers the way we have. Locally sourced goods have been our saving grace, and while we sincerely hope to see the back of the pandemic as soon as possible, we can at least rest a little easier in meantime knowing that the community of Sonoma County has remained as resilient as ever.
There’s never been a better time to shop local, and if you haven’t before, heading to Oliver’s is a great way to start! With real savings on a range of products made for and by the good people of Sonoma County, we believe that buying high quality and supporting local artisans go hand-in-hand. This week, check out spectacular deals on our favorites in local meat, produce, and more, like whole Rosie organic chickens from Petaluma Poultry and gourmet mushrooms from Mycopia. Stop by today!
Curious about our local partners? Click HERE to learn more!
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