Our Story

Reclaiming our food from the grip of big ag.

fighting big ag

is in our roots.

Boulder-born and still rooted there today, Wild Oats™ emerged in 1987 as a pioneering force in natural and organic foods, helping to bring organic into the mainstream. Our legacy helped shape a new organic movement. We didn’t just raise the bar for healthy foods. We redefined it.

Today Wild Oats remains an advocate for healthy food production that is good for people and planet. Thirty years ago organic and natural foods were nearly unattainable, today the value of well-grown food is no longer contestable, so now we’re aiming higher. We’re fighting back against big ag to help create the next crucial change in our food systems, pushing the industry toward Regenerative Organic Certified® standards.

our values

Rules we Refuse to Break

Rage with purpose

We’re absolutely mad about food. Which is why we’re really MAD about food. We’re angry about what industrial farming and big brands have done to our food system and that fire fuels our mission and our urgency to do something about it now.

unsus the system

We aim for radical transparency. We don’t hide behind labels, marketing spin, or green washing. In fact, we actively work against all that by showing where your food comes from and exposing bad practices. Sustainability continually evolves and we may not reach perfection but we’ll never veer into deception.

no margin = no mission

We believe that systemic change can and must come from within. That means it’s not just up to the little guy to fix our food systems – it’s up to us. It’s up to the companies with the resources and the reach to push back against big ag and make incremental changes that will scale and lead to big changes over time. When Wild Oats started it was just one store in Boulder, CO with big dreams. Now we are a national brand with the ability to put money behind our values and lead the charge towards a future that is more equitable, organic, and regenerative.

food is the fix

Food affects every aspect of life  and can be a positive force for good. From environmental and public health issues to socioeconomic and opportunity inequity, there’s not much food can’t help impact and solve. Food truly feeds the future. So, we’re for eating like advocates and choosing products, practices, and partners that align with the world we want to help build.