Who We Are
About the business:
Nature's Bakery Cooperative has been organized as a worker collective in Madison Wisconsin since it was founded in 1970. We are a worker-owned and -operated co-op specializing in natural and organic baked goods. All members not only have a say in the business, we all have major responsibilities in keeping the bakery moving forward. We currently have 5 members, and we are all paid the same for our work, which includes baking, delivery, clean up, packaging, and management of the business.
Our bakery (check the contact us / hours page for details) is where customers can get the best prices on our fresh products. However, we are mostly a wholesale outfit and sell at many grocery stores, co-ops, and health food stores in Madison, Milwaukee and other cities in the Midwest. We sell and ship our granola and trail mix directly from our bakery.
Our granola and trail mix can be shipped via UPS or USPS anywhere in the contiguous USA. Purchasing direct from Nature's Bakery Cooperative is a great way to ensure you receive fresh, top quality granola for the best price.
We make all of our granolas fresh each week; they are sweetened with local honey, maple syrup, barley malt syrup, apple juice concentrate, and/or fruit. Our granolas are baked with non-GMO soy oil, except for our oil-free granolas (Apple Cinnamon and Maple Walnut). Our Trail Mix is unbaked and contains no oil. Our Maple Walnut & Apple Cinnamon granolas and our Trail Mix are also all vegan.
Unlike most conventional producers, we still package our granola in 1 pound (16 ounce) bags, not 10, 12 or 14 oz bags. Our granola is so affordable and nutritious because we are exceptional at making large amounts of it efficiently - we refuse to compromise on ingredient quality.
About our Ingredients:
At Nature's, we are committed to using organic whole grains because we are committed to providing our customers with healthy, nutritious baked goods at a reasonable price. The grains we use contain none of the bleaches or chemical additives in processed grains, and they contain no harmful pesticides or herbicides.
We use a pure local honey and barley malt, organic maple syrup, and blackstrap molasses in our products, sweeteners that are all-natural, unprocessed, and in full possession on their nutritive benefits. As whole food bakers, we are aware of the variety of health problems associated with the over consumption of sweeteners - especially refined white sugar and corn syrup, which we refuse to use in our products.
Last, genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have become more and more prevalent in agriculture, and their effects are still not fully known. Soy is one of the most prevalent altered crops, and as such we only use non-GMO soy oil.
Check out our FAQ page for more info about where we source ingredients.
About our mission:
1. Nature's Bakery Cooperative is a worker-owned and -managed cooperative, and we are committed to a business model that gives workers democratic control and a say over their workplace.
2. All members/owners share all phases of the business and strive to create a humane, safe working environment.
3. We are dedicated to providing healthy, nutritious, local baked goods at a reasonable price.
4. We are committed to educating our customers and ourselves about nutrition, cooperative work, and the politics of growing and distributing food.