Katie Jerome (she/her) has been working at Seward Co-op since she was 17 years old. Since then, she’s moved from the Deli counter to the Grocery department to Wellness and, now, into Produce. Katie’s a Produce Replenishment Buyer at the Franklin store, which means she places orders, manages inventory, and vendor correspondence, and trains staff, among other tasks. Her lifelong passions for food and cooking drew her to working at Seward Co-op. Additionally, Katie did a lot of work in the community growing up, and became interested in working at a local business when she was older. Now, she gets to reap those benefits: “It feels good to know I’m making a difference in our local food system and community by working here and [by] maintaining the reputation with the community and our vendors we have built over 50 years as a business.”

At Seward Co-op, Katie’s formed strong relationships with farm and warehouse representatives, as well as coworkers across departments, building friendships, trust, and respect. Katie is a helpful resource to her colleagues, an advocate for her ideas to managers, and has developed a skill for collaboration with staff to determine how much product to buy. As a union-represented employee, Katie also appreciates the benefits that come with the UFCW 663-Seward relationship.

“I love to help create and maintain a Produce department that customers enjoy shopping in and staff enjoy working in,” says Katie. “It is so cool that we get so much of our produce in the spring and summer from farms as close as 10 minutes away and as far as a few hours.” Last year was Katie’s first to order seeds and starter plants for spring, and she was excited to learn. Beyond becoming more knowledgeable, it was rewarding for Katie to ensure that customers could buy the seeds they wanted for their gardens.

So, what will she grow this year? There’s a good chance she might’ve grown a pomelo tree, if Minnesota tolerated it. “This past citrus season, I discovered I love pomelos—the shaddock pomelo, especially. I never liked grapefruit because it was always too bitter, but pomelos are still tart, like grapefruit, and not bitter.” From growing new tastes to building enduring relationships, Katie’s journey working at Seward Co-op has been worthwhile. “I’m happy to meet the needs of our shoppers and community members.”