SALT LAKE CITY — The culmination of work that spanned the better part of the last two decades is set to be realized when the Wasatch Food Co-Op opens its doors on Wednesday.
Located at 416 E. 900 South in Salt Lake City’s historic Milk Block development, the co-op is only the second in Utah — joining the Moonflower Community Cooperative in Moab.
Cynthia Martinez, chair of the co-op’s board of directors, called the store opening a “monumental feat” given that the grassroots movement began all the way back in 2009.
“We’re just so lucky to live in such a great community where we have community members that are passionate about food justice and equality, and opening something that’s just really grassroots and serves our community,” Martinez said.
The store features a wide selection of items that you’d find in any grocery store, but with an extra emphasis on sustainably sourced and local goods.
MaCorra Hanneman, pricing manager at the co-op, said that about 35% of the store’s inventory comes from local farmers and vendors, with an ultimate goal of reaching 40% down the road, if feasible.
A co-op staple, the store also houses a sizeable selection of bulk goods like rice, teas, oats, and even laundry detergents (along with other unique products), as well as reusable containers available for purchase that can be returned and refilled.
“We’re really focusing on the good stuff,” Hanneman said.
How does a co-op work?
Co-ops are distinct from other grocery stores in myriad ways. The general idea of a co-op is basically exactly what it sounds like — a cooperative, democratic market, where everyone has a voice.
“(The co-op) is basically run by the board of directors, who make all the decisions. We don’t have a CEO, we don’t have shareholders,” Evan Sugden, Wasatch Food Co-Op Board of Directors member, told KSL in 2023.
What it does have is member-owners, who pay a one-time, $300 membership fee per household. Beyond getting a discount on goods at the co-op’s storefront, member-owners also have a say in the co-op’s operations.
“It is a democratic democratic system, so we definitely want to hear from our members. All of the board meetings are open,” Hanneman said.
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Martinez added that the co-op currently has 2,250 member-owners.
And unlike other membership stores like Sam’s Club or Costco, nonmembers can shop at co-ops.
Martinez said a lot of work has gone into making the co-op a place for everyone, “despite socioeconomic status, race, religion, membership status, anything like that.”
Additionally, co-ops can stock a lot of inventory from local businesses and producers because their end goal, while important, isn’t strictly about the bottom line.
“There’s no huge corporation above us giving us the ideas of what we need to do. We are here, and we can tell what the community wants and needs, and we can focus on that,” Hanneman said.
The profits that do exist are also more likely to be reinvested in the communities where the co-ops reside. The Wasatch Food Co-Op grocery store, specifically, will directly employ 25 local people.
“After years in the grocery business, I can tell you that co-ops are fundamentally unique. The people shopping in your store are also the people who have a stake in how it runs. That changes everything. Salt Lake City deserves a grocery store shaped by the values of the community it serves, one that supports local producers and prioritizes people over profit. That’s exactly what we’re here to do,” Killian Geeslin, the co-op’s general manager, said.
Coming to fruition
When the co-op in 2023 announced a $2.8 million funding campaign to open the grocery store, Sugden described the journey to reach that point as “a really long, uphill climb.”
“But the fact that the movement has lasted that long and has progressed really says a lot about commitment and persistence and the potential for reaching success here with, finally, an actual market,” Sugden said at the time.
Martinez said the sustained efforts of past community members, board members, member-owners, and volunteers made the vision for a physical storefront a reality. She added that the board’s addition of Publik Coffee owner Missy Greis in February 2025 was another crucial moment in the journey.
“It’s through her efforts with fundraising that we’ve just really been able to get across the finish line. She’s done so much for the co-op,” Martinez said.
The co-op also received a donation from the Maryland and Utah-based Kahlert Foundation, though the exact amount wasn’t disclosed.
“The Kahlert Foundation was proud to be one of the earliest major philanthropic supporters of the Wasatch Food Co-op and helped provide a catalytic lead investment during a pivotal stage of the project’s development. Heather and the Foundation saw the Co-op as a rare opportunity to invest in long-term community infrastructure centered around local food access, neighborhood connection, education, and economic resilience,” the foundation said in a statement.
Wednesday will mark the co-op’s grand opening, with festivities kicking off at 9:15 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Doors will officially open at 10 a.m., with a full day of live music and local vendor tastings to follow.
The co-op will be open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. More information can be found here.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
