KODIAK, Alaska — KODIAK - A Kodiak cooperative has received its first delivery of locally harvested canned salmon - a step toward reaching its goal of opening a grocery store selling Alaska-sourced products.
The Kodiak Harvest Food Co-op received a delivery this week of 1,000 cans of sockeye salmon from Larsen Bay to sell, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Wednesday.
The salmon caught and processed locally will be sold first to co-op members and then to other residents, said Tyler Kornelis, the co-op's board chair.
"Our first offering for sales will be to our membership base, as a benefit of being part of the co-op already," Kornelis said. "But we anticipate having some left over for the holiday season, and there seems to be a bazaar just about every weekend in November and December."
The co-op is working toward opening a full-service grocery store in Kodiak, giving residents access to local produce and seafood.
"We are trying, in essence, to help the localization of our economy," Kornelis said.
The co-op is wants to boost its membership to 500 before setting up a store. It now has 370 members.
The co-op has been selling Alaska-grown produce at a Kodiak market through the summer. The produce sales have served as a way to determine pricing and the products' popularity, Kornelis said.
“The objective in selling that produce was to establish the product types and volumes that we could ideally get Kodiak growers to sell to us next year,” Kornelis said.