Our Story

Community Natural Foods was founded by the Wilkes brothers in 1977.  They began promoting the store before the doors had opened by travelling to the Midnapore Fair making dairy-free, no added sugar ‘ice-cream,’ and running organic bananas through a Champion Juicer.  By the time the store opened on 11th Avenue SW (above where The Keg restaurant is today), a customer base had already been established! The brothers grew their company with the idea of providing Calgarians with natural foods at great prices. The business flourished as discerning customers found delicious alternatives to the artificial ingredients found at conventional supermarkets .As the organic revolution evolved, the store outgrew its 11th Avenue location and moved to the corner of 14th Street and 10th Avenue SW (now a lighting store). Consumer demand later led Community to move into the current location at the 10th Avenue SW. In 2000, Community expanded yet again to open the Chinook Station Market location at 202 - 61 Ave. SW. Community continues to expand and we welcome your feedback on the location of our next store. Why not join our team, on our organic journey!

Towards A Greener Community

Reducing Food Miles

We work with local farmers and producers whenever possible in order to strengthen our local economy and reduce the footprint of the products we carry. We have formed relationships with producers of a wide variety of produce (carrots, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, etc.), grains and cereals, dairy products, mustard, honey, and both fresh and frozen meats.

Managing Waste

At our stores and head office, we use a private operator to recycle plastics, cardboard, paper, glass, tin and beverage containers. We also have a cell phone/PDA recycle box at each of our stores.  Recognizing the impacts of kitchen waste (it creates harmful methane gas when in a landfill environment), we compost at all our locations as well.

Green Bags

We are Calgary's first grocer to go single-use plastic bag free. Instead, we offer a number of options for reusable bags including our 99 cent grocery bag made out of 100% recycled pop bottles. We also reward our customers for using reusable bags with a five cent incentive per bag used.

Single Use Plastic Water Bottle Free

We are Calgary's first retail store to go single-use plastic water bottle free. Instead we offer a number of alternative options from home filtration to stainless steel water bottles with filtration on them

Increasing Efficiencies

Our head office hot water heating is solar powered and all of our locations are powered by wind power.

Community Involvement

We have sponsored and/or supported various environmental initiatives and groups including Clean Calgary, Coalition for a Healthy Calgary, NHPPA, The Sierra Club, CHFA, Alberta Wilderness Association, The Mustard Seed, The Calgary Interfaith Food Bank, R.A.S.T.A. The Arusha Center, Potential Place, Chrysalis, Children's Wish Foundation, Mount Royal College and others. We are always looking to improve and strengthen our commitment to the environment.  If you have suggestions or feedback for us, please feel free to send us an email or give us a call.

Product Standards

Our customers can be assured that the food found in our stores meets with our highest standards. We abide by a precautionary principle – if a new food additive or supplement does not have a proven history of safe use, it is highly unlikely you will find it in our stores.