World’s First Pete Gengler is happy that his family and its company, Sno Pac Foods, Inc., got into the organic food business early. Touting itself as the world’s first grower/processor of frozen organic vegetables, Sno Pac, located in Caledonia, Minnesota, is in its third generation of ownership. Pete Gengler’s mother, Darlene, is the last of […]
Root River Market
Community Owned Doris Henderson, and dozens of other enthusiastic members of the southeastern Minnesota community of Houston, have created a community-owned grocery store and pharmacy. The 7,000 square foot grocery, called the Root River Market is dedicated to community development and the citizens of Houston. “Business is pretty good. People really like the quality of […]
Prairie Farmers Cooperative
A Hot Dog Competes and is a Wiener When investing in ethanol was first proposed to state officials and bankers, many balked and questioned whether farmer-owned plants could compete with huge agribusiness processors. Despite the skepticism Prairie Farmers Cooperative built their own processing facility. Still, they wondered how could a family farmer hot dog compete […]
PastureLand Cooperative
Their Own Brand PastureLand Cooperative in southeast Minnesota is marketing cheese, butter, milk and ice cream made from the milk of grass-fed cows. Together with six Rochester area producers, the co-op aremarketing their own brand of cheese and milk. It wasn’t just low milk prices that prompted members of a Rochester-area cooperative to create their […]