Workshops

Kim will take you on a journey from her farming roots to her role as CEO of Coconut Bliss and beyond. Experience stories and shared tools of change management within the patchwork of a multi -generational family business, through the lens of female leadership in the natural foods industry. Kim is grateful for the opportunity to share her story with the Provender Conference, and will be encouraging vocalization of your curiosities, comments, and change management tools. BIO: Kim Gibson Clark [Read More]

A guided conversation about how Provender Alliance can manage our own changes to thrive into the next age. This meeting led by The Board, the current Executive Director  Joe Wade, and facilitated by Conference MC Annie Hoy. The meeting takes place after the final Conference Workshop. Please come with your best hopes and help co-create our shared future. Meet the current Board here , and Executive Director Joe Wade here

Staying Relevant – The Evolving Story We Tell Ourselves and Our Customers Skagit Valley Food Co-op (SVFC) in Mount Vernon, WA has been serving good food at a fair price to the Skagit Valley area for 50 years! With over 13,000 active members and thousands of non-member shoppers, SVFC has found a way to remain relevant in the ever-changing landscape of grocery retail. In this workshop you’ll hear from Skagit’s General Manager Tony White and Community Marketing Manager Leigha Staffenhagen [Read More]

How we communicate with one another is fundamental to how we work together. Communication is the root of all decisions and actions. And yet, at the earliest age, schools ask children to work together in groups without providing any guidance on how to best talk with each other. The absence of this guidance continues into college or university and into the workplace. We just hope for the best that the group will be able to communicate well with one another. [Read More]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – Welcome to yet another new frontier.  There are a lot of fantastical stories and buzzwords around AI.  It seems AI is everywhere and is being utilized with mixed results.  If you are like most businesses working hard already to keep up with software, privacy, digital threats, marketing, analytics/KPIs, and social, you want to face this beast head on while also avoiding skating the bleeding edge.  Let’s take a look at AI, some common terms and applications [Read More]

Using the framework outlined in his book Beloved & Dominant Brands: The Brand Ecosystem that drives better-for-you brands from One of Many to Category Prominence, David Lemley will facilitate a hands-on exercise where participants will have the opportunity to evaluate and improve upon Seven Marketing Essentials of three Provender Allianace member brands while they are in the room. This practical exercise will provide valuable insights and actionable strategies for anyone attending this Workshop who is responsible for stewarding and growing [Read More]

Broad trends in produce, trends within categories, merchandising strategies with trends in mind… This presentation from Matt Olson, Fresh Program Specialist with INFRA will offer a broad perspective on produce marketing for profitability. His insights from broad experience and deep analytics will give you valuable tools to build one of your most valuable assets, the fresh produce department. Bio: Matt was Fresh Purchasing Manager for Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op – a 3 store group in [Read More]

Further explore our individual and collective potential to shift the paradigm of our food system. From regenerative thinking to nutrient density, what are our deepest opportunities to co-create a reality worthy of our hearts’ longing for a food system that serves the well being of life on Earth.   Presenter bio: Megan Westgate is the founder and Executive Director of the Non-GMO Project, a non-profit organization rooted in the idea that eaters are powerful co-creators of our food system, and [Read More]