Our storied history (dating back to the early 1970s) is grounded in a desire to nourish our community through quality, organic, wholesome foods. We do the research, select the very best organic, local, Non-GMO products we can find and make them available for you to shop with ease and trust.
In addition to sourcing top quality foods, we are committed to minimizing our impact on the environment through operational systems such as composting, recycling, and using 100% green power.
Since 2002 our company has been employee owned.
We proudly partner with:
NON-GMO PROJECT
The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, and educating consumers. The Non-GMO projects offers North America’s only third party verification and labeling for non-GMO products. It was started in our Berkeley location by employees of The Natural Grocery Company.
The FAIRTRADE Mark is the symbol of the international Fairtrade system – and the most globally recognized ethical label. When you buy products with any of the FAIRTRADE Marks, you support farmers and workers as they improve their lives and their communities.
EQUAL EXCHANGE/Fairly Traded
Fair Trade is a way of doing business that aims to keep small farmers an active part of the world marketplace, and to empower consumers to make purchases that support their values. Fair Trade is a set of business practices voluntarily adopted by the producers and buyers of agricultural commodities and hand-made crafts that are designed to advance many economic, social and environmental goals, read more on the EE Site>
MCE CLEAN ENERGY
All of our electrical power comes from non-polluting, renewable resources. A significant portion of which is produced by our own solar panels. For all additional electrical power, we subscribe to Deep Green, which is a voluntary 100% renewable energy – Green-e Energy Certified – program. This program, provided by Marin Clean Energy through an agreement with the City of Richmond, is available to all Richmond residents and businesses.
All of the electrical power in our Berkeley Store comes from non-polluting, renewable resources. We use the 100% renewable energy service option from East Bay Community Energy.
East Bay Community Energy’s power mix is mostly sourced from renewable energy and large hydropower. Our Board of Directors have established the goal of purchasing 100% clean power by 2030 — a full 15 years before the state’s goal date.
Meanwhile, some of EBCE’s member cities have taken the bold action of transitioning customers in their jurisdiction onto 100% renewable energy service immediately, to accelerate the reduction of emissions and hasten the investment in wind, solar, and battery storage projects. In doing so, these cities set the “default” service level for customers as Renewable 100, EBCE’s service that is sourced from 100% California wind and solar, including the output of EBCE’s Scott Haggerty Wind Energy Center in Livermore.
MESA
– Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture
The Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture (MESA) connects leaders in sustainable farming around the world for participatory training and cross-cultural exchange to strengthen local, resilient food systems worldwide. The Natural Grocery Company has actively supported MESA since 2006. As of 2014, we have hosted 10 MESA stewards, working in our produce departments, as part of this program.
BUY LOCAL BERKELEY
Locally-owned businesses are more likely to recirculate your purchase dollars into payments to other local suppliers. Economists call this a “multiplier effect,” because it steers more jobs and sales-tax revenue into our own community. Several recent studies have found the multiplier benefits of local businesses to be up to three times those of non-local businesses.
BUY FRESH BUY LOCAL
The Community Alliance with Family Farmers, the organization behind Buy Fresh Buy Local, is the result of efforts by both farmers and urban activists working together for over 30 years. They strive to build a movement of rural and urban people to foster family-scale agriculture that cares for the land, sustains local economies and promotes social justice.
CALIFORNIA GREEN BUSINESS NETWORK
From non-toxic cleaning products to LED light bulbs and conscientious waste reduction, we strive to have the lowest possible impact on the environment.
Our goal is to live lightly on this planet while bringing nutritious foods to our community.
We take many steps to be green. Some examples include:
1. Reducing water use with low flow toilets.
2. Conserving energy with LED bulbs
3. Using non-toxic cleaners
4. Avoiding waste by eliminating unnecessary packaging with bulk food selections and bulk filtered water.
5. Diverting waste from the landfill through reuse, recycling and composting.
6. Hiring local vendors to support the local economy and encourage less vehicle use and transport impact.
7. Our El Cerrito location utilizes solar paneling to offset energy usage.
