March is Women’s History Month, and at Seward Co-op, we’re honoring the women who have played a significant role in the development of the co-op through their leadership, innovation, and spirit. Read about Annie Young, Gail Graham, and Rose Williams here and here. We would also like to take time to recognize the many women-led businesses that help supply our stores with great food, wellness products, and more. Below are a few whose products you can find on our shelves. Each of the following is also a Community Foods producer. You can read about even more women-led businesses here.
Celebrating Women’s History Month
Apasa Foods
Apasa’s artisan spicy and tangy Green Chili Achaar (fermented relish) is probiotic and handcrafted with 100% organic ingredients. It is typically used in South Asian cuisines to add heat, tang, and fermented veggies to support digestion. Mix it with yogurt to make a delicious marinade, add it to your breakfast eggs, or use it like any other relish on top of your favorite grillables. Find it at both stores near the sauerkraut and kimchi.
Sola’s Butters
Founded in 2016 by Abisola J-Peterson, Sola’s Butters is rooted in family history and Indigenous African ingredients. While exploring natural ways to heal and soothe dry, cracked skin exacerbated by eczema, she recalled during her childhood in Nigeria how her mother used raw shea butter to calm and sooth angry skin. The results are high-quality skincare products that you can find at both of our stores.
Botanical Lucidity
A lifelong lover of tea, herbal medicines, and holistic supplements, Kayla Emmons started Botanical Lucidity in 2019 by making tea concentrates in her own kitchen in the Twin Cities. That same year, Kayla introduced her elixirs to several local grocery co-ops and has since grown her business to have a presence in co-ops across the state. Her powdered concentrates come in multiple varieties and can be found in some of the drinks at Seward Co-op’s Deli counter, too.
Jane Candle Co.
Jane Candle Co. is a BIPOC/AAPI-owned business run by a daughter and mother duo in Minneapolis, Minn. Daughter Macailah started Jane Candle Co. to support her own daughter, just as she had watched her mother, Angela, also start her own business. Named for their beloved family dog, Jane Candle Co. is dedicated to making the highest quality home goods that summon a sense of warm comfort, all while being toxin-, paraben-, phthalate-, and cruelty-free, and vegan.
Green Earth Growers
Green Earth Growers is a small-scale, women-owned greenhouse operation that was established in 2004. Located south of the Twin Cities in Prior Lake, Minn., the business began by growing quality plants, produce, and cut flowers for local farmers, fundraisers, garden centers, landscapers, farmers markets, and restaurants. Over the years, their farmland and greenhouse space has grown. Today, Jenny and Jolea continue their commitment to growing and producing quality products with an emphasis on sustainability. Pick up a bouquet of their gorgeous flowers or try their starter plants when they’re in season this spring.
Jakeeno’s
In 1999, sisters Patty and Amy Keegan took over Jakeeno’s Pizza & Pasta from their parents, who opened the restaurant in 1975. The longstanding South Minneapolis Italian spot has since started a wholesale business, selling frozen pizzas and jarred sauces to local shops, including Seward Co-op stores. For nearly 50 years, Jakeeno’s has prioritized community and creating a fun, safe, and welcoming place for people to gather and share in their family’s love of food. They frequently partner with local organizations to offer their products for fundraising, saying “commitment to our Minneapolis neighborhood is just as important as serving good food.”
Mudluk Pottery
Mudluk is a Black/queer/woman owned pottery studio in Minneapolis. In 2022, artists Sayge Carroll, Katrina Knutson, and Keegan Xaví co-founded the studio and gallery, seeking to create a safe, creative space for people to learn and practice ceramics. In addition to hosting programming and exhibitions, Mudluk sells handmade pottery, which you can also find at Seward Co-op. Sayge (they/them) says that working with clay always feels like “home”.
Sweet Science
Since 2012, Sweet Science founder Ashlee Olds has been using her passion for ice cream to craft unique and complex ice cream flavors. Always made with organic, grass-fed cow’s milk and organic sugar, Sweet Science sources ingredients locally whenever possible, often gluten-free, and never artificial. They rely on the properties of food science to get the most out of every organic ingredient, and make the ice cream base and every swirl, cookie, sauce, and crunch by hand in St. Paul.
Taking Stock
Taking Stock was founded in the Twin Cities in 2015 by two friends, Molly (she/her) and Maddy (she/her), who dreamed of owning a business together. They combined their 25 years of kitchen experience to formulate a product that was both nutritious and delicious. After two years of experimenting, Taking Stock Bone Broths were created. Molly and Maddy initially sold their delicious broths in fresh and frozen forms at local farmer’s markets. Today, their shelf-stable bagged broths can be found at Seward Co-op for use in soups, stews, or for sipping. Taking Stock is a Certified Women’s Business Enterprise and is certified organic.
Marieke® Gouda
Cheesemaker Marieke Penterman and her husband, Rolf, are driven by a passion for honoring old-world cheese-making techniques from the Netherlands, where they grew up on small dairy farms. When they immigrated in 2003, they settled in Thorp, Wis., and began their own dairy farm. Just four months after Marieke crafted her first batch of Gouda, she captured a gold award at the 2007 US Champion Cheese contest, and in 2011, Marieke was the first woman to win a Wisconsin State Fair cheese competition. There are 60 licensed women cheesemakers in Wisconsin, including all three of the licensed cheesemakers at Marieke® Gouda. Additionally, women head nearly every department at Marieke® Gouda. The Pentermans believe the key to world-class Gouda is fresh ingredients and traditional practices. From having their own rBGH-free herd, to importing equipment, cultures, and a majority of the herbs and spices from Holland, their commitment to owning the whole process from milk to cheese wheel allows them to completely control the quality of their product.
