U.S. Bulk Food Stores List *NEW*

To add your store, comment below

Bulk food stores, or even bulk aisles, are amazing ways to save money and eliminate unnecessary packaging. The key to this is to bring your own reusable tote bags. If the weight of your bag is significant enough to effect the price, make sure to write the weight of the bag ON your bag, so the cashier can quickly and easily tare the weight off of the final price.

This is KEY to reducing waste. Simply buying bulk food to use one of the store’s thin plastic bags is not zero waste, and it is not sustainable. At that rate, it’s better to buy something packaged in compostable cardboard.

Some stores may offer compostable or biodegradable bags to use. To this I say, please only use them in an emergency, and only if your community is actually able to compost those materials, unless they can be composted in home composters– but in my experience, I have never found a ‘compostable’ plastic bag that I could compost in my backyard.

Here is a list I’ve compiled of stores around the U.S. that offer a variety of food in bulk:

bulkflc

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland/ Washington D.C.

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

 

 

 

 

 

21 comments

  1. Isla Vista Food Co-op in the Santa Barbara area of CA has bulk snacks, dry goods, baking supplies, herbs & spices, tea, soap, lotion, shampoo, and conditioner.

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  2. Central Market in Texas is *really* big on bulk foods.
    Sigona’s Farmers Market in Redwood City and Palo Alto, CA should be on the list too!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Reap & Sow in Oceanside, CA offers Laundry Soap, Soap Nuts, Laundry Pods, Dish Soap, Auto Dishwasher Gel, All Purpose Cleaner, Glass Cleaner, Floor Cleaner, Tub & Tile Cleaner, Hand Soap, Body Soap, Body Lotion, Body Butter, Teas, Herbs, Clays, Salts, Sugar, Beeswax, and more. They are a pilot store for Dr. Bronner’s will have bulk Castile Soap soon. Bar Soap, Shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and dish soap. Dental chew tabs, dental floss, They make their own hand sanitizer and deodorant which is available in bulk. They encourage customers to bring their own containers but also have glass to purchase. Additionally, they offer Terracycle recycling program for the customers

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Hello ZWC! I would love for my low waste shop to be added to your directories. prostainable has been at Calabasas, Pacific Palisades, Hidden Hills Farmer’s Markets since Oct 2019 and will be opening a store in Woodland Hills in June 2020. Thank you for all that you do to help people find where to shop and refill.

    Like

  5. The Fillerup Shop in Morgan Hill, California carries bulk refill household cleaners and body care products as well as reuse wares such as straws, cutlery, produce bags and more. We’d love to be added to your directory.

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  6. The Re-Up Refill Shop offers a range of ecological bath, body, cooking, kitchen, and cleaning products in refillable containers, reducing waste from single-use plastics. Based in Oakland, CA, we offer a brick and mortar location where folks can bring their own containers or use ours and pay-by-volume. We also offer free local bicycle delivery. ReUpRefills.org

    Thanks for adding us! Love what you are doing.
    Matt

    Like

  7. Hi! We opened our refill station, The Well Refill, 4 months ago in Topanga Canyon and would love to be added to your list. All our info is listed on our website: thewellrefill.com
    Thank you!

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