Swapping Aprons: Bridging the Deli-Makery Gap

By Justin DeMeyere, Food Production Manager

One of the most remarkable things I’ve noticed in my time working in co-ops is that no two are alike. Every store has its own personality, its own tempo. And more often than not, that difference shows up most clearly in one particular place in the co-op world: the deli.
Every deli has a rhythm of its own, churning and shifting like the ocean. Some days the surf is calm, the waves lapping quietly at the shore. Other times, it’s storm-wracked, the swell crashing against rock and sand. Most days, though, it’s steady and dependable: tide rolls in, tide rolls out. So flows the Deli. There are frenetic stretches where every second feels charged with energy. There are slow, quiet hours where you can finally catch your breath. And then there’s the familiar, steady pressure that seems to come from every angle at once. This kind of energy may be consistent in a deli, but the experience can look—and feel—very different from one co-op to the next.

Menu plays a huge role in that. I’m always amazed by the variety, ingenuity, drive for excellence, and local flair I find in each co-op I visit. The grocery shelves may look largely similar from store to store, but deli offerings are where a co-op becomes unmistakably itself. The basic ingredients of something like chicken salad don’t change much, but the result always does: each deli puts its own spin on the recipe, and no two chicken salads ever come out the same.

There are less exciting differences, too—management structure, size, staffing, station layout, standard operating procedures—but they matter. Atmosphere is a big part of it. A deli might have a self-service or full-service hot bar. It might have a taqueria, a barbecue counter, or multiple full-service stations that feel almost like a food court. Some delis pare their offerings down to little more than grab-and-go. Others build an experience that keeps people circling back.

A key differentiator of our deli is that our Co-op owns an entire facility dedicated to producing almost all of the food you find in our deli case and hot bar: the Makery. To rehash, the Makery is solely a production facility where we make fresh bread, soups, salads, packaged sandwiches, and more—food enjoyed every day by people across Skagit Valley. Many of our offerings are deeply popular with customers, and we’re proud of the work we do. But ever since we opened the Makery, the relationship between the Co-op sales floor and the production facility has often felt slightly disjointed—like two teams moving toward the same goal, together yet separate.

One Monday in January, my manager, the Prepared Foods Director, told me, “I have something exciting I want to talk to you about! …on Friday.” 
Well, great. Friday. I can wait; I guess. 

Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that week.

What could she want to talk about? What exciting thing could she mean? What big change was being planned in the Makery?
I spent my entire week tossing and turning in bed—trying not to think about it, trying to figure it out. Nothing could have prepared me for the changes she had planned for me and my team.

On said Friday, after our monthly Deli Leadership Meeting, Lisa, my manager and Leah, our interim General Manager, kept Brittany (my counterpart in the Co-op Building and longtime Deli Manager—whom many of you have probably met) and me behind in the conference room for the big reveal. 

Drumroll, please…
“We want the two of you to cross-train in each other’s jobs.”

Justin and Brittany in front of the cold case, where the Deli dishes up the fresh foods made at the Makery.

It sounds simple enough—until you take into account that the Deli and the Makery are two entirely different facilities, dedicated to the same pursuit in completely different ways. The Deli is largely a customer service machine: cranking out friendly, local vibes, and serving delicious prepared food to our customers. The Makery is a facility built around the mission of crafting great food safely, efficiently, and consistently.

To be honest, the Makery and Deli teams are not always on the same wavelength, which you might expect with multiple crews operating in different buildings at different hours, similar to a changeover between day shift and night shift just about anywhere. And, as expected, the distance between buildings and day-to-day duties can sometimes lead to a finger-pointing match, even though we’re all on the same team, riding the same wave.

Brittany and I let the news sink in. Our initial shock soon gave way to the realization of what swapping aprons could actually mean for both teams: better communication; more understanding at the leadership level to share with staff; more open, honest discourse; and a set of fresh eyes on systems that might otherwise stay the same out of habit. This was an opportunity to learn something new—not just between Brittany and me, but between our departments, and throughout the Co-op as a whole. How often do you get to do your counterpart’s job, walk a mile in their shoes?

We’re walking. Brittany and I have been shadowing each other for the past month, and as of this writing, we’ve been fully swapped for three days. The process has already offered meaningful feedback and oversight. When I look around at my two teams, I see growing pains—but mostly I see broad acceptance of this project. Lines of communication are already clearer. We understand each other better. And both teams will benefit from the transfer of knowledge.

Customers, though, are the true winners. The whole purpose of this project is to create a stronger connection between the Deli and the Makery, so the food, service, and communication our customers experience all feel seamless. By spending time in each other’s roles, we better understand the challenges, priorities, and daily realities of both departments, which means fewer misunderstandings, better coordination, and a unified approach to the work. In the long run, that translates to greater consistency, quicker problem-solving, smoother service, and food we can stand behind with enthusiastic confidence. When the people making the food and the people serving it are more connected, customers ultimately receive a better product and a better experience.

And, for a change, I’ll be in the Deli—so if you know me, or you just want to stop by, meet me, and say hello, you can find me behind the Deli counter most days. Looking forward to seeing you soon.