RiverLoop Public Market Cooperative focuses on local, fresh food
By Jean Caspers-Simmet
simmet@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 01/11/2012 4:00 PM
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WATERLOO, Iowa — The Loop Cafe at the RiverLoop Public Market Cooperative in downtown Waterloo is getting a lot of recognition for its good tasting, reasonably priced food, says Julie Kiefer who manages the cooperative on a volunteer basis with her husband, Rick.
The Loop Cafe serves made-from-scratch soups and sandwiches. Potato and macaroni salad will soon appear on the menu. Breakfast pastries and cookies are baked fresh in the market's commercial kitchen.
The cafe serves brewed and pressed coffee, teas, lattes and espressos as well as bottled water and juices. Fruit smoothies will be added in the future.
Portabello mushroom, grilled chicken breast, pastrami on rye and ribeye were among the warm specialty sandwiches on a recent day. Soups were chicken noodle and Wisconsin cheese.
The Kiefers are well known in local food circles. They have a farming operation that includes greenhouses in the spring, sweet corn and green beans in the summer and a big Halloween operation on their Waterloo farm with pumpkin sales, haunted houses and a haunted hay ride. Kiefer is market master for the downtown Waterloo farmers markets on Thursdays and Saturdays and the Kimball Ridge farmers market.
The Kiefers were approached in March 2010 about putting together a group willing to work toward opening a public market.
"This is part of Waterloo's RiverLoop Expo, which was funded by a Vision Iowa Grant," Kiefer said. "One of the requirements of the grant was that a business needed to be here by Sept. 30."
It was a tight timetable because much of the remodeling didn't start until summer. They received strong support from the city.
Kiefer said her husband's vision is that the RiverLoop Public Market Cooperative will be similar to the markets he's seen in Europe during his business travels.
People can join the cooperative for a $125 one-time membership fee, but they don't have to be a member to shop at the market.
"We want people to become members, but we also want people to shop here, and to shop here, you do not have to be a member," Kiefer said.
Members receive a small discount, can vote at shareholder meetings and receive a percentage of dividends once the cooperative becomes profitable.
"By shopping here, you have access to the freshest-tasting fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products around," Keifer said. "Our focus is on locally grown. In the winter, we use suppliers but look for the freshest, best tasting produce at a reasonable cost."
The market offers some organic items. Both grass-fed and corn-fed Iowa local beef is sold. Beef and pork is fresh and can be cut on site per request. Fresh seafood is available Thursday through Saturday.
A local baker bakes breads, cookies and breakfast pastries in the commercial kitchen. There will soon be frozen made-from-scratch RiverLoop soup that customers can take home.
Locally raised mushrooms, honey, squash, apples, cheese, milk, butter, jam and baked goods are sold at the store. A bulk foods section features beans, flour, rice, tea, spices and a small gluten-free area. The market recently obtained a liquor license so it can sell Iowa beer and wines.
During summer and fall, the downtown farmers market meets in the plaza outside the RiverLoop Public Market.
The RiverLoop Cooperative buys from several local farmers. All vendors much be approved by the board of directors, and farmers who sell to the cooperative must be members.
"We want high-quality produce," Kiefer said. "We want fresh, natural, healthy and good-tasting food."