The co-op sells bulk food products such as rice, beans, and chia seeds but also has an array of fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy products, eggs, and honey.

Around five per cent of their fresh produce is hyper-local, coming directly from the Bega Valley said member and worker Dan Butchers.

"Tilba Milk is a big client of ours, then we have some South Coast packaged goods like kimchi, and about a handful of local suppliers of produce, like eggs. There's really been no issues with them," said Mr Butchers.

"Our shop is quite well-stocked at the moment. Our supply is steady, there's hardly any supply interruptions, the main hindrance to getting local produce has been the weather.

"The rain has ruined a lot of produce, such as stone fruit, a lot of veggies, items from Queensland and from Northern NSW," said Mr Butchers.

He said over the last two years COVID had disrupted the co-op's supply chain in imported products such as some seeds and dried fruit products, but its domestic supply chains remained fruitful.

"In store we seem to have between two months and a months' supply of food, whereas supermarkets often have about three days.

"A high turnover and last minute logistics is the business value they go by, whereas we have a bit of a hoarding value I suppose."

Mr Butchers said he wasn't expecting the store to undergo shortages as it had two fresh food suppliers in addition to the local food products. This would only change if suppliers began experiencing issues with staff shortages.

"The more local produce we can get hold of the more resilient our suppliers will be, because we aren't relying on trucking, warehousing and logistics," he said.

Another reason he mentioned the store was managing its stock well was due to the "calm and common sense" of its customers.

READ ALSO:

"There's not much hoarding or panic buying going on in our shop, so we really appreciate that.

"Socially our customers have been really cooperative and grateful that we're here and sensible with mask wearing and checking-in and everything."

The store has been mainly seeing its usual clientele and a few tourists here and there.

Although the co-op has dealt with some staff needing to isolate due to COVID, especially after Christmas, any staffing challenges were met with discussions that it would close early to accommodate if need be.

Luckily it has managed to avoid early closures and remained open throughout on regular hours.

"I'm just grateful that our customers are charming and they make it easy for us," Mr Butchers said.

The co-op is also running a complimentary shopping service available for those who cannot come into the shop or do not want to for whatever reason.

"Supporting local businesses creates cohesion and interdependence in the community," Mr Butchers said.

"We need to rely on one another locally more than we rely on imports, trucking, and logistic systems that are obviously fragile."