Fresh Collective: Where Fresh & Local Meets Quick & Convenient

By Lisa Howard

MAYBE YOU’VE BEEN MEANING TO JOIN A FARM SHARE OR CSA to get your hands on the freshest foods possible. Or maybe it’s lunchtime and you just wish you could find a grab-and-go healthy lunch somewhere.

You can do both at Fresh Collective Kitchen & Market! The cozy space offers wraps, salads and omnivore and vegan entrées right alongside fresh produce, farm eggs and locally made healthy snacks. Co-owners Erin Brick and Alison Purdy and CEO Amy Kaltz like to say that Fresh Collective “is a fancy 7-Eleven/mini-Westborn.” (They also serve lattes and espressos made with locally-roasted beans.)

Behind the counter, Fresh Collective also serves as a commissary kitchen. Several of the chefs who rent the kitchen use it to make dishes for their personal catering clients, while others need the space to prep for their food trucks. Some make the array of grab-and-go items the Collective has available every day, like quiches, wraps, green salads, pasta salads, soups, and croissant sandwiches. In response to customer requests, there are plenty of dairy-free and gluten-free options as well.

The story behind the collaborative nature of Fresh Collective began when Erin started a co-op over five years ago. Back then, she was bouncing from one place to another in a quest to stock her home kitchen with the healthiest ingredients possible. “I was tired of going to several different places to feed my family the way I wanted to feed them,” she says. “That’s how the co-op was born.” She partnered with MSU’s Tollgate Farms, and it didn’t take long before she needed someone to help sort orders and serve as a secondary pick-up point. That’s when Alison joined forces with Erin.

BUSINESS WAS PROCEEDING AT A MANAGEABLE PACE …and then the pandemic hit. “Our sales quadrupled because all of a sudden no one wanted to go to grocery stores,” Erin explains. “Although we had originally focused on cheese, meat and eggs, we thought, ‘Well, we need produce now.’ Then it was, ‘Well, we need pantry items now.’”

In short order, they also needed a bigger location. It was pure serendipity that when Erin was shopping at Vitrine, she started talking to Vitrine’s owner, Susan Rogal, about the co-op. The vacant adjoining space formerly housed a bakery, and when Rogal asked Erin if she’d like to trial-rent the space for her co-op, Erin jumped at the opportunity. It’s been onward and upward ever since.

“Because we have such a big following on Facebook from our co-op customers, they talk about us a lot,” Erin says. “Within two months of being open, we had over a thousand Likes – in the middle of a pandemic! Plus, we’re in such a cute section of Coolidge. There’s so much within this little walkable pocket. We love being here.” It’s also a convenient location for Co-op customers to come by and pick up their weekly items. The animal products are from pastured animals, and all produce and animal items are certified organic/produced in accordance with organic standards.

Erin and Alison have added permanent indoor and outdoor seating at Fresh Collective so that customers can grab something to eat and then stay to enjoy it. It’s all part of their goal to offer healthier, more delicious choices to everyone.

Fresh Collective Kitchen & Market
2752 Coolidge Hwy, Berkley MI
248-907-0767
Open Daily www.freshcollectivekitchen.com