Let's talk about the Co-op difference.
Over 25 years ago, on a couch in a friend’s living room, somewhere right here in Rapid City, a buying club was established with the goal of bringing healthy food to the Black Hills. People like you, who were looking for a closer connection to their food and to their community, came together to plant the seed of a healthier Hills region. A year later in 2001, roots were established and what started as a buying club sprouted into a storefront. Breadroot Natural Foods Cooperative opened its doors. A community-led and community-owned grocer (realistically, a converted craftsman home on Columbus Street) was now open in Rapid City, not only to sell groceries, but to build a healthier and more sustainable community. It wasn’t just another grocery store—it was a grocery store owned by the people it was built to serve.
When we opened our doors in 2001, we had one goal: bring better food options to the Black Hills. Today, over 25 years later and 5 relocations in, we’re still living by that “food first” motto. We all have to buy groceries. It’s one of the few things every household has in common. Most of us don’t expect more than just groceries from our grocery stores, but why shouldn’t we? Why settle for a grocery store that’s simply a place to shop when it can also strengthen the community you call home, instead of making money for executives who live in other states? While corporations can move into a city and provide food, all the profits are then extracted from that community. Cooperative grocers provide a more gratifying way to shop for your groceries. Breadroot Co-op is one store, rooted in this community, created for and by the community. Cooperatives are structured so that profits are reinvested in the community through livable wages, local purchasing, and patronage (a return on your investment, similar to a stock dividend or profit sharing but your amount is proportionate to how much you spend).
Breadroot’s focus continues to be to strengthen the local food system and the community that supports us. Every purchase helps support a more resilient local food system while keeping your dollars circulating close to home. Every time you choose local and support a cooperative instead of a corporation, you keep dollars in our community, uplift independent producers, and build a more connected, resilient, and nourishing Black Hills for everyone.
Every grocery trip can be an opportunity to invest in something bigger than your shopping list. By choosing a cooperative, you’re helping build a healthier food system, a stronger local economy, and a community that takes care of its own. That’s the cooperative difference, and it’s something worth going an extra mile for.