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Eating local food matters. Farmers’ markets have never been more popular. On any given Saturday morning, in any given community across the U.S. (including metro-Columbus), thousands of people descend upon their downtown to look at fresh fruits and veggies, homemade baked goods and organic, free-range meats, from local farmers.
And it’s becoming easier to follow the farmers’ market philosophy of eating local, everyday.
Each week, watch for a feature of a different Columbus-area market/grocery store that caters to supplying foods from local farmers – to show it’s not difficult to buy local food.
This week: The Hills Market
The Hills Market is one of the most well-known markets in Central Ohio for its offerings of Ohio-specific foods. Here customers find produce, meats, cheeses, wines and even crackers and sauces, that have been made in Ohio. And like its mainstream grocery store counterparts, (Think: Giant Eagle, Kroger) The Hills Market also has cleaning supplies, toiletries and other necessities – along with foods that are made and grown elsewhere.
What’s great about The Hills Market
First, its team. It will be difficult to find a grocer team that’s more in the know, and robust, than those at The Hills Market. And they keep their butcher shop and deli open until close – which is nice, because shoppers never have to worry about what time they shop.
The next best thing about The Hills Market is its culture for supporting Ohio food and Columbus communities. Customers who follow their blog or friend them on Twitter will hear about frequent events that support a great cause and/or feature Ohio foods. They also clearly mark Ohio foods in the store – see photo below.
Finally, it’s a robust grocery store so The Hills Market can be a one-stop for weekly shopping. (And their dessert, salad and deli area has some of the finest, homemade selections anywhere.)
Now for the opportunities
Families on a budget might find some items a little expensive, specifically when trying to stick to an “all Ohio grocery cart.” While The Hills Market offers everything found at a mainstream grocery store, there isn’t the same brand selection and you won’t find The Hills Market-branded or generic dry goods.
The only other critique isn’t about the store – it’s their web site. The blog format is great but it would be nice if their hours and content information were on the main page. This is something I’ve heard from a couple people recently.
Receipt
My total was $48.50. Below is a complete list of purchases and items with a * mean they were from Ohio:
- BBQ Sauce *
- Pasta Sauce *
- Chicken *
- Leaf lettuce *
- Eggs *
- Deli turkey *
- Paper towels *
- Mint brownies *
- Bananas
- Watermelon
- Strawberries
- Yogurt
- Garlic
- Pasta
The Hills Market
http://thehillsmarket.typepad.com
7860 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, Ohio 43235
(S.R. 315, just North of I-270)
Twitter: @hillsmarket
Hills Market rules!
I really like the Hills Market too, and the idea of buying local at the grocery store is one that caught my interest awhile ago as an article worth writing/reading. Of course, buying locally from a local/independent retail store like HIlls, is the best way to go, but I’d love to see something similar put together for shopping local at a place like Kroger or Giant Eagle. Of course, it would be much harder as you’d have to check labels on products since they don’t have those shelf labels like Hills does… but there are quite a few items to be found that are made in Ohio (or more specifically in Columbus).
What was the pasta sauce? Mid’s? That stuff is really good.
I’ve had Mid’s! I like their meat sauce. I remember being amazed at their 5 dollar sub special and their pizza you can order at the deli is good too.
Another great thing about Hill’s Market is how easily accessible it is from the bike trail.
They do need a real website though.
First and foremost, thank you for such a wonderful review. I would have responded earlier, but I was at a customer service training seminar with a few of our favorite Ohio partners. (Wayward Seed Farm, Snowville Creamery, Jeni’s Ice Cream & Pistacia Vera.) After a day of recognizing our own strengths and weaknesses, I get to read a lovely article highlighting both. I’m very excited about this series and that there’s a desire in Columbus to patronize locally owned retail establishments. Our creative business community is one of the many unique parts of Columbus that make us strong.
We’re very pleased to help celebrate Ohio’s food culture, and hope that we can continue to partner with unique food brands from the Buckeye State. We search for and promote Ohio foods for countless reasons. Three that come to mind: 1. The food is fresher and tastes better. 2: Buying locally helps keep money and jobs in the Ohio economy. 3: The people we work with are just incredible. No corporate marketing department can replace a Jen or Warren from Snowville, a Jamie from Wayward Seed, an Anne from Pistacia.
And yes, you’re correct. Hills Needs A Website. It’s been on the “to do” list for a year, and it keeps getting pushed down. (Much like the material on our blog.) We were kind of hoping that you wouldn’t notice it was really a blog? Sigh. Patience and HTML help would be much appreciated. In return, we’ll do whatever it takes to continue to provide for your needs while bringing in the best products Ohio has to offer.
Best,
Jill Moorhead
Marketing Director,
The Hills Market
info@thehillsmarket.com
p.s. Milo’s Whole World Gourmet pasta sauce from Athens is incredible, as well, and you’ll get to meet them on Monday as part of our workshopping event with Wild Goose Creative.
yay Hills Market!
Went for their pancake breakfast on Saturday! So much fun! It was so nice out too!
Took my in laws here for shopping and they could NOT say enough good stuff about it :) They live in a small town where they don’t have access to such yummy stuff, and there’s no local items (which is surprising since it’s a rural town).
Anyways, great work Jill and company! You guys rock!
Since we’re talking about pasta sauces, let me tell you … Tonight I opened the jar of Rossi Pasta tomato basil that I bought at The Hills Market the other. It’s my new FAVORITE. So yummy.
And, Walker, don’t ruin next week’s article, which is going to focus on buying local at Giant Eagle and Kroger. :) And I like the idea of going a step farther and identify what items in the store are from Ohio, to help shoppers more easily grab what they want v. having to search for Ohio stuff.
The goal of these articles is to show people how easy it is to buy stuff grown and raised in Ohio. And if it didn’t include the mainstream grocers, a whole lot of people wouldn’t bother, unfortunately.
I <heart> Ohio food.
Oh, nice! Looking forward to it! :D