Voted Bellingham's best grocery store. Full-service deli, hot bar, salad bar featuring organic, local, and natural foods. Everyone can shop, anyone can join. Co+op, stronger together.
Earth Day Sale!
20% OFF all bulk items. Includes items on sale, too!
Shop the bulk aisle, plus general merchandise like bulk dishwashing and cleaning products and body care (bulk shampoos, conditions, soaps, etc.)
Reduce your consumption of unnecessary packaging and stock your pantry with healthful whole foods.
Bring your refillable containers or buy one of ours and save it for future refills.
See you on Earth Day!
We take our commitment to sharing honest information seriously, so we don’t tailor our lists to make us look good and the information hasn’t been edited before publication to improve how we compare to other stores.
Co-op staff is on your team! We build strong relationships to get the best deals possible, and then we pass the savings on to you.
Every year we undertake the process of conducting a rigorous price comparison survey. In addition to providing interesting information and transparency to our
member-owners, these surveys are invaluable to the Co-op merchandising staff responsible for setting prices. It also helps us achieve our strategic goal for healthy food access.
the Co-op offers great value for the money you spend on high-quality food
For the second year in a row, the overall cost for a large group of identical products is lower at the Co-op than at three of our competitors. We’re proud to once again say that the Co-op offers great value for the money you spend on high-quality food and personal care products.
This was our most comprehensive survey in several years. Our starting point included a list of more than 500 grocery, produce, meat, and wellness products. The final number of products compared was determined by the competitor’s product selection. If it was on our list and the competitor sold it, it was included in the comparison. The product selection was not edited to improve how we compared. The number of identical products at each location ranged from 392 at Fred Meyer to 230 at Haggen, with Whole Foods falling in the middle.
Natural foods and wellness products have been the fastest growing segment of the grocery business for quite a few years now. Attracting and retaining natural food shoppers is the focus of every company in this intensely competitive industry. As a relatively small community-owned business, maintaining competitive prices with large chains has always been a challenge for the Co-op. I’m happy to report that we continue to rise to that challenge.
food may be our middle name, but community always comes first
We take very seriously our goal to make high-quality, nutritious, culturally appropriate, and affordable food accessible to all. Thank you for choosing to shop with us. At the Community Food Co-op, food may be our middle name, but community always comes first. We own it!
Smart Shopping at your Co-op explains how to maximize your shopping dollars and save even more money at the Co-op. If you have questions about these savings opportunities, just ask any Co-op staff. We’re always happy to help. Thanks for your support.
All stores had higher prices than the Co-op, when comparing store brands. At the Co-op these items are labeled as Co+op Basics.
Whole Foods (365 store brand): prices were 11.2% higher on 21 total common products
Haggen (O Organics store brand): prices were 5.9% higher on 14 total common products
Fred Meyer (Simple Truth store brand): prices were 11.3% higher on 23 total common products
All stores had higher prices than the Co-op in the wellness department.
Whole Foods: prices were 4.7% higher on 81 total common products
Haggen: prices were 10.5% higher on 77 total common products
Fred Meyer: prices were 3.5% higher on 200 total common products
Only Fred Meyer had lower prices than the Co-op in the produce department.
Whole Foods: prices were 1.3% higher on 99 total common products
Haggen: prices were 18% higher on 64 total common products
Fred Meyer: prices were 3.6% lower on 68 total common products
Once again, only Fred Meyer had lower prices than the Co-op in the grocery department.
Whole Foods: prices were 6% higher on 104 total common products
Haggen: prices were 3% higher on 78 total common products
Fred Meyer: prices were 2.9% lower on 111 total common products
All three stores had lower prices than the Co-op in the meat department. Due to the Co-op's stringent meat guarantee, it is problematic to even find meat products to compare, which explains the small sample sizes noted below. Chicken products comprise the majority of the comparisons, along with a few packaged items like Hempler's products. There really is no comparison on the quality of other meat products the Co-op carries, which are largely cooperatively farmed by regional producers and have a range of attributes including hormone- and antibiotic-free, Non-GMO certified, organic, humane certified, and more.
Whole Foods: prices were 8% lower on 22 total common products
Haggen: prices were 12.3% lower on 11 total common products
Fred Meyer: prices were 10.2% lower on 12 total common products
In our recent price comparison story, you can see how prices at the Co-op are already comparable to our competitors. In fact, prices are often considerably lower than at other local stores. But, who doesn’t want to save even more money?
Here are some simple ways to save at the Co-op.
And, if you haven’t already heard, we recently dropped prices significantly on 80+ items in our meat department, including the most frequently purchased items.
Our lowest prices on everyday basics in every department. Look for
signs in our stores.
Sales in produce, meat, deli, specialty cheese, and bakery. Posted in the foyer every Tuesday and on our website
60+ items on sale every day. Look for signs in our stores. Twice-monthly sales flyer
in stores and on website.
Co+op Deals coupon books are issued every two months. Coupons books in stores.
Sale items + coupons = double savings. Look for signs in our stores.
Order by the case at the service desk. Tip: Place special orders when products are on sale for the greatest savings.
Deep discounts available for a limited time period. Get alerts via e-newsletter, social media, and store signs.
Issued three times per year.
Published in our In Season magazine.
Save money and reduce food and package waste when you buy bulk.
I love to work in the bulk food department for a variety of reasons.
I am passionate about quality whole foods, waste reduction, and shopping efficiently to save money.
Here in the bulk department, we’re all about savings and lessening our impact on the environment.
Buying bulk can help you save money and reduce food and package waste. Buying only what you need, at a good value, and reusing your packages cuts out the little inefficient costs that otherwise can start to add up to extra expense.
Another benefit of shopping bulk is product freshness. The Co-op bulk departments are very popular and that means product turnover is rapid. Bulk containers are refilled throughout the day just to keep up with demand.
Shopping bulk is simple. Our bulk departments offer reusable containers that can be refilled repeatedly. Even better, we love it when you bring in your own clean containers to refill. Just remember to weigh your empty container and record the tare weight, write the 4-digit PLU number on the container, and fill with as little or as much food as you want.
I am endlessly amazed at the quality of whole foods and spices the bulk department gets from around the world. At the Community Food Co-op, we are ever aware of what it takes to get all these amazing dried goods to our store, and we try to source the freshest, most ethically produced, and best organic goods available on the market. With this in mind, we always seek good prices to pass along to our community of shoppers. When you shop bulk, you are buying foods that are generally cheaper than the identical pre-packaged product on the shelf.
You can find things in the Co-op's bulk department that you just can’t find anywhere else.
Beyond the usual dry goods such as flours, rice, grains, and nuts, the Co-op bulk department also carries bulk honey, tamari, oils, vinegars, maple syrup, agave, nut butters, loose leaf teas, various dried seaweeds, and plenty of amazing sweets and snack items.
Visit to see what is available in our extensive bulk spice section—you might be surprised. If you’re looking for a hard to find ingredient for a recipe, need that little something extra to flavor a dish just so, or if you’re curious and just want to try new spices to grow your culinary repertoire, it’s likely we have what you need.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for—ask!
The Co-op specializes in customer service. There is always someone available in our stores who is happy to help. Bulk department managers (Tim–Downtown store and Michael–Cordata store) are great resources to find what is in stock or what might be available to order. We love to answer questions, and if we don’t know the answer to your question we’ll go out of our way to find an answer for you!
If your household eats a lot of certain staple foods, spices, teas, or coffees, you might consider placing a special order. Co-op member-owners can special order bulk products in case sizes for a 20 percent discount off the shelf price. Simply go to the service desk, ask what case sizes are available, pre-pay for your order, and return to pick it up when it arrives fresh from our suppliers. Case sizes range from as little as 1 pound for spices, up to 50 pounds for oats (one of our most popular bulk items), but the most common case size for bulk products is 25 pounds.
Bellingham and Whatcom County are amazing places to live and work, and the Co-op is proud to serve our community with two big and beautiful stores. While our stores serve different sides of town, and the layout of each store is different, we love to work together to make our product selection as linear as possible and provide a great selection in both bulk departments. But, if you can’t find what you need when shopping at either of our stores, check in with staff as it may be available at the other store.
Please come in often to discover what’s new in bulk.
I personally love to talk all things food, and I enjoy the opportunity to talk with you about cooking techniques, favorite flavors, or any odd question you might have about bulk foods or organic foods in general. So the next time you’re shopping, I invite you to stop by to chat and to discover what’s new in bulk.
Totals represent combined sales from both stores.
42,943 pounds
Oats—all varieties
38,869 pounds
Coffee Beans—all varieties
11,205 pounds
Thompson Raisins
18,497 pounds
Almonds—all varieties
2,289 pounds
Organic Quinoa, plain
267 pounds
Organic Black Peppercorns
“What if, like the hummingbird, all people would sip the nectar of the earth without harming the flower? Is it possible? At Hummingbird, we know it is possible.”
Learn more …
We were already big fans of Lundberg Family Farms and its delicious sustainably farmed rice and whole grain products, but now we have yet another reason to love Lundberg Family Farms—QUINOA! To be precise, quinoa grown in the U.S. and even in Washington state.
Pachamama is a co-op that is 100 percent owned and governed by the farmers who grow the coffee. Pachamama’s member-cooperatives represent thousands of families in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ethiopia.
