When I’m not working with my Mable team, I spend time at the small grocery store that I own in Vermont. Chris from the Mable Marketing Department recently asked me, “What grocery trends are you most excited about?” And, it really got me thinking!

There are so many fascinating trends in the grocery space, right now. From consumers championing health-conscious foods, brands and products to the continued (and growing!) popularity of the snack category – it's an exciting time to be able to lean into a slew of great trends.

I wanted to make some room for some new bars at my store the other day, so I started to comb through some data. Analyzing velocity and sales data isn’t easy for a lot of us who own stores. While Square is a great POS, their reporting and data is not designed to help stores identify trends. 

Growing up working in my father’s woodworking shop in Southern New Hampshire, I came to learn the value of small business and its role as a community cornerstone through weekends and summers sanding and staining furniture. Working with my hands was greatly rewarding and I enjoyed the physical toil from a day in the shop. 

I read an article yesterday entitled “Disruptive Food Brands Get a Taste of Their Own Medicine” in the Wall Street Journal. And it got me more fired up about our mission and how we’re working to change the food supply chain..

I own a grocery store in Vermont at the base of a popular ski mountain. My GM, Ashley, primarily runs the operations and, along with a few other employees, manages the purchasing for our 3,000 square foot store. 

As a store owner in a small New England town, I take pride in the role that my store plays in our community. We're nestled at the base of a ski resort, and we value the locals that stop in each morning for a cup of coffee just as much as the skiers that stop by for snacks and a six pack after a long day on the mountain. When I first bought the store a year ago, there wasn't much to discover in the aisles besides the traditional consumer packaged goods you can find anywhere. My team and I made it part of our mission to change that.