Rainbow Grocery
Bakery | Bath and Body | Beer and Wine | Books and Gifts | Bulk Food | Bulk Herbs and Spices | Cheese | Housewares | Package | Produce

We have been a vegetarian food store serving San Francisco and the Bay Area since 1975.  While we strive to offer the widest selection of organic and locally sourced products at the most affordable price, we also hope to be a resource for our community to exchange information about the health and sustainability of the foods we put on our tables.

As a worker-owned cooperative, those of us who work here are more than simply the labor-force of this business, we are the business. And while we have come to work here for many different reasons, we all share the common desire to work in a non-hierarchical, democratic workplace where everyone’s opinion matters. Not only do we hope to make a difference by providing healthy food and products to everyone who shops with us, we believe that through our successful business model for cooperative work we are also putting the ideals of sustainable living into practice.

Since we moved from 15th and Mission to our building at 13th and Folsom, we have more than doubled our workforce from about 85 people to over 220. While we add new worker/owners every year, some of us are celebrating our 20th, 25th, even 30 year anniversaries!

Rainbow is more than just a job for us. And we hope that for you, our store is more than just a place to find healthy food!

We have been in San Francisco’s Mission District since 1975. We strive to offer resources, education and a forum for informational exchange for many local communities and organizations.

Our goals include, but are not limited to:

  • Providing affordable vegetarian food products which have minimal negative impact ecologically and socially
  • Buying goods from local organic farmers, collectives, bakers, dairies and other local businesses whenever possible
  • Providing our customers with the best possible service
  • Providing Rainbow Grocery Cooperative’s workers with a livable wage
  • Creating a nonhierarchical work space based upon respect, mutuality and cooperation
  • Offering low-cost health care products and resources
  • Supporting other collectives and worker-owned businesses
  • Supporting fair labor practices
  • Donating to local non-profit organizations and schools
  • Encouraging bicycling, mass transit, and alternative transportation
  • Composting all in-store green wastes; recycling, reducing and reusing resources whenever possible
  • Creating a diverse, non-discriminatory multilingual environment

We maintain an ongoing commitment to make Rainbow Grocery Cooperative an inclusive environment that is welcoming to everyone.