For those of you not local to the San Francisco Bay area, the “Berkeley Bowl” is likely new to you.  It is a local supermarket with two locations in the People’s Republic of Berkeley.  Originally located in an abandoned bowling alley, it is a local institution. Famous for its amazing variety of produce (eight different kinds of kale…) it also has a great selection of dried and bulk foods.  The dried and bulk section was the reason we were shopping there for boat provisions.

One thing is obvious to anyone who shops there.  There is one magic ingredient that is required to get the locals to buy your product.  It doesn’t have to even be a food product, just throw it in for instant sales. There are a dozen varieties of “hemp” granola, which seems pretty obvious…  but this one takes the cake…

I am not even sure what “hemp milk” IS, but there are 4 different kinds…

Then there is the cheese counter.  I would not even hazard a guess how many different kinds of cheese they carry, but here is a fun one…

No, we did not buy the boat glue…