Oryana Wins 2022 Scale Up Award

Oryana is incredibly honored to win the 2022 Scale Up North Award!

After a multistage process, Oryana was honored to be chosen from three finalists in the 2022 Traverse Connect Hagerty Scaling Business Award. This award recognizes an established business whose growth helps the local economy and gives back to the local community. Besides the considerable honor of recognition, the award includes a package of cash and in-kind prizes worth $41,000 that Oryana can use to leverage our work in the community, recognize our amazing staff, and support our continued growth.  

What we did was not the easiest way to scale up the co-op, especially at the start of the pandemic. But Oryana’s pursuit and successful acquisition from bankruptcy of the local Lucky’s Market store grew Oryana from $16 million in sales in 2019 to $32 million in 2021. 

Oryana as a Cooperative grocery is different in so many ways. We have a quadruple bottom line” People, Planet, Purpose (as laid out by those high-level visions we call our ENDS) before Profit. Nevertheless, growth is as important for a co-op as any other business as costs rise. But most importantly, when co-ops grow, they can do more good and have more beneficial effects in the community, region, and planet!   

And grow we have (in a pandemic)! During the last two years, Oryana grew to two stores, 185 staff, $32 million in sales, and 10,000 owners. This “scaling up” has allowed Oryana to give back to staff, our community, the owners, and invest in both stores.  

For Oryana, it’s truly an honor and recognition of the efforts of our team and the support of our owners and the community over two very challenging years. It also recognizes the many shoulders the co-op stands on of folks that, past and present, have worked, owned, grown, and produced for Oryana. This wonderful honor gives us even more momentum as we head to our 50th anniversary in 2023!  

Thank you all! It takes a community to grow a successful cooperative!