A grocery stop can also be an introduction to the people making food and household products close to home.

At Tiller & Rye in Brewer, that connection reaches well beyond the city line.

The grocer’s published sourcing directory includes Baked By Joy in Hermon, Bee Whisperer in Hampden and Blind Tiger Coffee in Old Town.

It also names Farm House Coffee Roasters in Winterport and New England Cupboard in Hermon.

Those connections give shoppers a useful starting point when they want to learn which nearby businesses are represented in a local store.

What can shoppers find?

The grocery departments include produce, meat, poultry and seafood, dairy and eggs, bulk goods and frozen foods.

For a household planning the week’s meals, that makes the store worth considering for an ordinary errand as well as a search for something locally produced.

A supplier directory is not a live inventory list, however, so a particular maker’s product may not be available on every visit.

If you are seeking a specific item, ask the store before making a special trip.

Where is Tiller & Rye?

The store is at 20 South Main Street in Brewer, across the bridge from downtown Bangor.

Published store hours are Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The store telephone number is 207-573-4021.

A practical way to shop locally

Consider choosing one item on your usual list and looking at where it was made.

That small habit can turn a routine shopping trip into a way to discover another business in the Penobscot Valley.

No special occasion or large purchase is required.