History

The Co-op has come a long way from its humble beginnings on South Wallace Avenue. What was started by a few people on the fringe looking for a way to buy cheap rice has grown to a $10 million business employing over 100 workers with an annual growth rate of 20%.

In 1979, a store named the Crossroads Food Center opened in a small house, structured as a nonprofit corporation. In the spring of 1984, the name was legally changed to the Community Food Co-op, and the store moved to a larger space near Montana State University.

In 1992, the Co-op bought a building in downtown Bozeman to better serve the needs of our growing membership. A deli was added and a departmental structure was created. In January 2002, the Co-op reorganized as a cooperative corporation. Later in 2002, a major expansion project was completed, doubling the retail space and adding a coffee, juice and dessert bar with an eating area upstairs.

The Co-op is now a huge success, nationally recognized and awarded, with double the sales per population base than most other natural food cooperatives in the country. The journey has been long but throughout it all, the Co-op has remained committed to the elements in the original 1979 mission statement:

Emphasizing open, involved membership, environmental awareness, nutritional advocacy, support of local agriculture.