Country Grocer has been growing in, and building community for four decades.
"It's something we are very proud of and take pride in, it's a big accomplishment," said third generation family member Craig Cavin who is the South Island operations manager for Country Grocer which now has 11 locations. "It's very cool to be family oriented, and owned. We're continuing to grow, and I'd say we are the strongest we've ever been."
The grocery business has been coursing through Cavin's family bloodline for years, starting when opportunity knocked and his grandparents two generations before him answered. The storied history of Country Grocer began with a Food Country location that two of Country Grocer's current partners owned and operated in Victoria's Cook Street Village in 1984, followed by Mr. Grocer that had its first location in Royal Oak in 1986, which Cavins family was directly involved in.
"We eventually merged together to become Country Grocer once the buying agreement happened with Kelly Douglas and Company in 1999: Food Country and Mr. Grocer then became Country Grocer. It's a bit a of a weird history that winds a lot of different paths."
It was a banner year in 1999, as not only did it mark a new beginning under a new name but was also the year they built their warehouse in Chemainus and brought the Country Grocer brand to Cobble Hill, where they have now served for 25 years after taking the place of Valley View Foods.
"It feels amazing that we have now been in Cobble Hill for that long because this store has basically gone from a corner store to a thriving and continuously growing grocery store," said Cavin. "As the community around us has grown we have kind of grown with it."
Cavin, who was born and raised in Victoria, has grown up in the grocery industry, and got his first taste 26 years ago at the age of 14 when he started as a cashier at the Royal Oak location where he worked throughout high school. He then chose the path of secondary education and went away to school in Calgary and Vancouver for a few years where he studied courses in business, economics and even some broadcasting, but admits he never quite graduated as the family business was calling him back home. It was a meaningful conversation with his friend's dad that put him on the path to see what he left behind and that there was a lot of value in working with the family business and legacy. In 2011 Cavin returned to the Royal Oak location where it all started to become a night time produce clerk at the age of 26. From there he literally moved up the food chain to assistant produce manager, then produce manager, to eventually his current role as South Islands operation manager, and admits it is a neat feeling to have an office for the role at the same location where he got his first ever job, and feet wet in the industry.
"I did a bit of everything at that location, I knew everybody and was kind of the heartbeat of the store and knew what made it tick," said Cavin. "Most of the people I've worked with throughout the stores are still here today, and it's cool. I've definitely grown up in the store."
Over the years Cavin has worked out of various locations including those in Nanaimo and Esquimalt but says he has always had a soft spot for the Cobble Hill lcoation where he worked for five years, and this year celebrates its 25th anniversary.
"I loved working out of this location, and coming to work every day," said Cavin. "It's a beautiful place to come to work, when you walk outside you can see the valley, and the farms, it's just such a different pace from Victoria. I really love to be a part of smaller communities myself, you just get to know more people. Here and Duncan are really cool spots, you have the mountains everywhere, and it's a different type of pace and shopper that come into these stores, not everyone is as rushed or in a hurry, and everyone is just really friendly."
Cavin said that before being back in Duncan for the past year and a half, it was once a longtime home for the grocery chain, before Thrifty's took over their former location around 15 years ago, making the store in Cobble Hill the next closet location. Cavin said it always meant a lot to see loyal customers make the commute to stick with them, and is thrilled that their purchase of the 49th Parallel chain of grocery stores in February of 2023 has allowed them to return to Duncan. Now that they are back they want to continue to get their name out there, and to support different schools and organizations in the the area, whatever that may look like.
"We have been at that location for a year and a half now so whatever we can do, whether that be providing food or sponsorship," said Cavin. "We want to show that we are there to support that area like we have everywhere else. It's a simple recipe, you get what you put out there, you really do."
The purchase of 49th Parallel also meant having their brand in the communities of Ladysmith, Chemainus, and Cedar. They now have a total of 11 locations, but out of that number the two in Lake Cowichan and Salt Spring Island, which are also owned by family members, are considered to be franchises that run their own operations but still buy from the Chemainus warehouse. Cavin said that between all their locations, the warehouse and their administration team they have around 1,200 employees.
Cavin said eight years ago when he first took over managing the Cobble Hill location that now currently has a staff of just over 80, a big part of his focus was giving back to the community and saying yes to anyone who needed a helping hand. This may have been as simple as a gift card to the local bird watching group who wanted to buy coffee, providing items for under-privileged kids in the Cowichan Valley, to giving gift cards to the students at Cowichan Secondary. They were also known to have special giveaways around the holidays, and for the participation in the annual Cobble Hill Fair.
"We also would have 4-H barbecues and car washes for the kids to raise money and we would buy a 4-H cow each year from one of the kids and cut it up to either sell on our shelves, or do meat draws," said Cavin. "We like to ingrain ourselves in the communities that we are in and give back to a lot of the local charities."
Some of the bigger fundraising campaigns they have been a part of over the years include the United Way, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Cycle of Life and one of Cavin's personal favourites Help Fill a Dream, which helps to support families with children who have been diagnosed with a life threatening or critical condition.
"Help Fill a Dream is by far my favourite one. We do a kick off every year out at Eurosa Farms in Brentwood Bay who are the providers for the bouquets that we sell," said Cavin. "This year we had an actor dressed as Batman who showed up for one of the kids, and he was just blown away. All the campaigns that we work with are great, but this one is for kids who don't have the opportunity to do something because they are sick. So this is for the families to go away, and feel normal and create memories at somewhere like Disney World for a week. It wasn't all that long ago that I was a kid, and I can't even imagine having to go through something like that, and having kids of my own now, I just couldn't imagine what some of these parents have to do for their kids."
It is not just their commitment to community that separates the independent chain from other conglomerate grocers. They take much pride in their presence through their free quarterly magazine Friends and Family and their weekly Chek TV cooking show Cooking on the Coast featuring Chef Heidi Fink, which were both the brainchild of their marketing director Tammy Averill who has been with them for 16 years, along with some of the people from Chek who Averill had previous relationships with.
Friends and Family magazine focuses on different suppliers as well as an array of things going on within the organization and stores with a section on health with an article written by one of their nutritionists, and recipes. Friends and Family also highlight certain staff members who might be up to something special, plus they always do a big spread on the Cycle of Life tour each year.
"Our chef Heidi Fink did a big meal for all the Cycle of Life riders this year," said Cavin. "Think they raised over $3,000 dollars this year. We have different staff members that go and do the ride every year. It's just another example of our organization coming together to help the local community. We've been involved for years, everybody loves it. The Cycle of Life Tour just seems to get better every year."
Fink keeps it seasonal and simple with products all found in your local Country Grocer. Fink, who is from Victoria, also teaches cooking classes at Camosun College and has her own cooking business.
"They shoot all the episodes at Chek in a kitchen studio they have set up and film the episode over the course of a couple of days," said Cavin. "Heidi will prepare all kinds of different meals and then from there they will go out to film different farms or other locations to highlight a certain product. It really brings everything together and sometimes we will incorporate wine and beer pairings for the meal in association with Liquor Plus. The past couple of years since Heidi has come on board the meals are a lot easier, there is a great variety but nothing too complex with recipe you can usually whip up with in 40 minutes using items you can find within our store. When we first met her, we really liked her energy and everyone at Chek loved her. We feel very fortunate to have found her, because she is fantastic."
Cavin said it is a fantastic feeling to see how far his family business has come, and their focus is on settling into their current locations, with an eye to adding another one up island in the future.
Looking back, Cavin said one of the most reward parts of this journey has been witnessing the loyalty of their customers.
"We pride ourselves on that personal touch, you can always find our managers on the floor and they are always more than happy to greet you when you come in and assist you in what you are looking for," said Cavin. "It's not an easy business, there are a lot of moving parts, and when we are able to compete, and have people choose to shop at our store with a lot of the national players in our backyard is a real testament to everyone in our organization from top to bottom. It really does take a village, and that is kind of what we have working within the company now. We continue to have great people, get better and grow."
