Pacific Foods Co-Founder Chuck Eggert Creates Basics Market
PORTLAND, OR - Basics Market, a new company backed by Pacific Foods Co-Founder Chuck Eggert, promises to “reinvent…grocery,” with a small-format concept that includes a market, classroom, and discovery kitchen—all with an emphasis on healthy and fresh.
“We think one of the best things for your health is to cook your own food, and that the most nourishing ingredients you can use are in season, grown locally,” said Eggert. “One of the ways we saw to help people get the best nutrition was to make what we grow and raise here in Oregon more accessible, and we’re working with others to do the same.”
The first Basics Market will open in Portland, Oregon, this summer, according to a company press release, with a second location in Tualatin opening later in the year and a third in Beaverton in 2019.
At just 7,500 square feet, Basics is just a fraction of the size of a typical supermarket and the format is truly unique, offering a hyper-curated selection that in some ways pairs the strengths of a meal kit with those of a produce department.
Designed for access and offering “just what people need to cook healthy meals at home,” Basics will offer ingredients organized by recipes at five “meal stations” that have been developed by an in-house culinary director and vetted by a nutritionist for optimal health. Shelves will be stocked with just a few choices in every category, prioritized by local and sustainable suppliers whenever possible. The format both allows consumers to select their own fresh products and gives them the culinary direction provided through a meal kit.
“When you have the skills to cook your own meals and a little nutrition guidance, you’re really taking your health into your own hands,” said Store Manager Erin Leiker. “What’s important to all of us is fostering heath and connections in the store, around the table and at the farm. That’s what attracted me to Basics.”
The company noted that the best produce of the season will be delivered fresh daily from a network of local partners.
According to the company’s press release, a collective of farmers, ranchers, grocery veterans, and consumer packaged goods experts are building Basics with Chuck Eggert—whose family members practice regenerative agriculture while also managing some of the largest organic farming operations in the state. And the company noted, Eggert is also working to nurture new agricultural ventures and manufacturing throughout Oregon.
Could Basics Market be a disruptive presence on the better-for-you shopping scene? AndNowUKnow will continue to report.
