February

Outpost Natural Foods has awarded Young Kim, executive director for Fondy Food Center, as its 2013 Owner of the Year. The award recognizes Kim for his tireless service and good will in bringing fresh food options to Milwaukee’s central city through the Fondy Food Center. From farm to fork, Kim’s dedication to the resurgence of urban and local agriculture and his positive influence in developing an integrated local food network truly exemplify Outpost’s cooperative vision of a healthy, diverse and sustainable community.

Building on the success of its first stand alone Market Café, Outpost Natural Foods has announced plans to open a second café at the Rite-Hite Family YMCA (the Y) located in Brown Deer. The Y, along with Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare and the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center form a single shared campus at 9250 N. Green Bay Road in Brown Deer. The cafe will be located in the central lobby. This Healthy Lifestyle Village has a strong focus on family and community. This partnership is unique within the YMCA system.

November

MILWAUKEE, WI (November 12, 2012) – Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative is looking to expand into Ozaukee County for its fourth retail store location. Property has been secured in the city of Mequon at the northeast corner of Mequon Road (State highway 167) and Wauwatosa Road (State highway 181). The proposed location would primarily serve the city of Mequon and the town of Thiensville, and is expected to draw owners and shoppers from neighboring communities like Germantown, Menomonee Falls, Cedarburg and Grafton.

MILWAUKEE, WI (November 1, 2012) – After only seven years, Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative, Wisconsin’s largest cooperatively owned natural food grocer, is embarking on a $1.1 million remodel of their Bay View store and Central Kitchen location located at 2826 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue in Milwaukee.

The objectives of the expansion and remodel are twofold: double the capacity of the central commissary kitchen to accommodate sales growth in all divisions – stores, wholesale and catering - and increase and update store retail space and product offerings.

August

We like trees. We love trees, in fact. That's why we encourage our shoppers to reuse shopping bags. We've given away or sold thousands of reusable shopping bags to reduce the amount of paper shopping bags we go through at our stores. And we've also donated money for the past two years to Forests for the Future, a reforestation project undertaken by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

May

A food magazine produced in-house by the marketing and communications staff of Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative has been awarded a Gold Award for Best Overall Magazine Design. The recognition comes from the Milwaukee Press Club, which announced the winners of its Excellence in Journalism awards for 2011 at a banquet May 18. 

Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative was named a 2012 Top 100 Workplace in Southeastern Wisconsin by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Over 960 companies were invited to participate in the survey. Of those, 195 companies chose to participate. Ultimately, over 85,000 employees received the survey and 55,000 responded, either on paper or online. Three business categories defined the awards: Large (500 plus employees), Midsize (150 – 499 employees) and Small (149 employees or less). 

Outpost Natural Foods and Aurora Sinai Medical Center are excited to announce that the new 225 square foot Outpost Market Café has opened for business on Monday, May 21. The kiosk is located in the main lobby at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, across from Patient Registration. It is the first of its kind for the co-op, which has been serving the metro Milwaukee community since 1970

February

Outpost Natural Foods, one of the nations largest food co-ops by sales volume, held its annual owners meeting on Sunday, February 19, with an enthusiastic crowd of more than 240 owners.

Following on the heels of a successful 2010, the past year was a profitable and powerful one for Outpost, with an 8% jump in revenue and sales of $31 million.

January

Outpost Natural Foods, one of the largest natural foods cooperatives in the United States, announces that it will open a new 225 square foot retail space in the lobby at Aurora Sinai Medical Center at 945 N. 12th Street in Milwaukee.

Outpost Market Cafe will offer a variety of signature made-from-scratch Outpost prepared food items including bakery, sandwiches, soups, salads and entrees. The kiosk will also offer hot coffee and tea, juices, a limited selection of local, fresh and non-perishable staple grocery items like milk and dairy, eggs, produce, bread, bulk items, convenient center aisle foods and bagged coffee.

November

Acting on their vision for a healthy, diverse and sustainable community, Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative recognized three local organizations with grants totaling $55K.

September

Outpost Natural Foods is excited to announce a $30,000 grant to the Walnut Way Conservation Corp. The presentation of this grant will take place Saturday, October 1, between noon and 1:00, during Walnut Way’s Harvest Day. The event, an annual celebration of the summer’s harvest, will run from noon to 4 p.m. in the 2200 block of North 17th Street.

The “Celebrate Champions of Change” banquet honored five Milwaukee business pioneers for their leadership in social justice, animal welfare and the environment. Outpost Natural Foods Co-op General Manager Pam Mehnert was among the group of honored recipients.

August

The Outpost Eat Local Challenge is a two-week quest to source meals from the local foodshed. Today, Outpost stocks products from nearly 200 different local and regional farmers and producers.

Wrap up a summer filled with farmers markets and local food flair by participating in the 5th Annual Milwaukee Eat Local Challenge, September 1 –15.

July

Ukulele singer/songwriter Aaron Lee is back on the road this summer touring on his bicycle to promote the values of sustainability, community and local action through ukulele music combined with an amazing journey. 

Buy A Scoop for the Hungry is a part of Outpost’s annual Think Outside the Lunchbox summer food drive, which runs from June 1 through August 31.

Outpost Natural Foods will begin the remodel of its Wauwatosa store at 7000 West State Street
with the donation and transplanting of three mature flowering crab apple trees to Hart Park in
Wauwatosa on Monday, July 18.

After a great response to its inaugural issue published in spring, Outpost Natural Foods’ magazine, GRAZE, is ready to bring it on with the Summer 2011 issue.

May

What’s more local than the backyard? Get tips, get inspired, get growing! Visit with local groups to learn about what’s sprouting in your community! Brought to you by Outpost Natural Foods and Urban Ecology Center.

April

At a time when digital media seems to have taken over the world of printed publications, Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative launched its new printed quarterly food magazine, GRAZE.

January

Try this on for a New Year’s resolution. Take the pledge to make all of your own food for one whole year and share your experience with 285 of your closest friends.

“It’s a record year for Buy A Bag sales. We had set a goal of 1,500 bags, which we shattered. It just goes to show the dedication of our shoppers and enthusiasm of store staff to provide food for those in our communities who are facing hardships.”

November

Join Outpost and Our Milwaukee in supporting area non-profits and locally owned, independent businesses for
your holiday gift-giving.

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