Eggs. Milk. Coffee. Honey. Maple Syrup. Pasta.
It may just look like a basic weekly shopping list to you. But to Dwight Richmond, our Director of Center Store, it looked like an opportunity to create something really special—a house branded line of superb-quality, affordably priced essentials, sourced as close to home as possible, with creative input from our team members at all levels. Now, with several products on the shelves and several more in the works, our EveryDay brand is turning that vision into reality.
Premium products, great value, and a little something special about each one
Fun fact: when you create your own brand, you can call the products whatever you want. So why just name your milk “milk” when you can call it something fun, like Moo? Along with this playful take on naming, each package features artwork created by our employees. And the milk itself is sourced from an iconic Washington dairy that still employs milkmen and milkwomen to deliver fresh milk to local homes.
The bright, orange-yellow-yolked eggs are selected to meet a baker’s elevated standards. Sourced from a local farm in Washington, they’re nestled in cartons with playful copy like: "I dream of a world where chickens can cross the road without having their motives questioned.”
The honey is named Buzz, and a percentage of its sales goes directly to Save The Bee. And the maple syrup comes directly from trees in Vermont, supporting families of lifelong syrup lovers. No blends here—it’s the real Vermont tree-to-bottle deal. So much so, you might even taste seasonal differences in flavor.
Meet the EveryDay person
Maybe you don’t expect to find much innovative thinking in a store brand line. But you also don’t find a creative guy like Dwight Richmond on the average team. The Specialty Food Association recently named Richmond their 2023 Leadership Award Winner for Outstanding Buyer. They describe him as the buyer that manufacturers dream about, because he’s an active partner that builds brands instead of beating up on price.
“Town & Country is all about helping customers have the best possible experience with every bite of everything they eat, every day. The markets have recently undergone a re-brand that pulls all the different stores together into a cohesive family, while maintaining the personalities of each location. I wanted to create a store brand that reflects that,” says Richmond.
The EveryDay coffee collection showcases this concept perfectly. There’s a unique neighborhood blend named after each of our markets, and each one was selected by the employees in that location through blind taste testing. The Bainbridge blend is popular across the board, but for the most part, micro-regional tastes echo those of the judges.
More surprises in store
Next up is EveryDay pasta, with packaging that will feature in-store contest-winning recipes by our staffers. And yes, the pasta is made the traditional Italian way, with authentic Italian machinery. But it’s made here in the PNW, with flour from farmer-owned Shepherd’s Grain—which is grown under regenerative, non-GMO verified, Food Alliance certified, Salmon-Safe certified land. A line of EveryDay pasta sauces is in the works, which will include one marinara, one tomato basil and one employee favorite recipe. EveryDay chocolate, tea, matcha, and olive oil are also in the works, and each will come with their own little surprises.
As Director of Center Store, Richmond focuses on bringing in as many local and regional products as possible, to showcase the quality and creativity in the Pacific Northwest food community. The ice cream freezer is a case in point—it’s filled with irresistible artisan flavors from independent ice cream makers in the area.
“We’re blessed with an abundance of creative and innovative makers across the region driving the next generation of innovation in food, and Town & Country Markets is an incubator for these brands to get their maturity and maybe become the next big thing,” says Richmond. “I wanted our store brand to reflect that kind of innovation and quality level.”