Wasatch Food Co-op
“It is a full-service grocery store, so we offer everything from locally grown apples to bananas that cannot be grown here, to Cheerios and everything in between.” For years, the Wasatch Food Co-op lived in that deceptively simple sentence - a neighborhood grocery store built for everyday needs but designed to do much more than stock shelves. Today, that vision is a reality.
Stephanie Buranek became involved because she already understood what a successful food co-op could mean to a community. After visiting the Boise Food Co-op years ago, she remembers thinking, “This is the greatest grocery store I have ever been in.” When she learned that Salt Lake City was working to create its own community-owned grocery store, she became a member-owner, volunteered her commercial real estate expertise, and was soon invited to join the board. She said yes, stepping into an organization that had already been carried for years by volunteer energy and early leaders.
Stephanie speaks with affection about Barbara Pioli, who helped spearhead outreach and organizing, and about learning from longtime board members like Ben Jordan and Alan Stutz, absorbing the history of why the co-op incorporated and why it mattered. She later served as Board Chair through December 2025, helping guide one of the most important phases of the project - finding the right home, building community support, and turning years of planning into a permanent neighborhood grocery store.
From the beginning, the co-op was never meant to be a boutique specialty market. The goal was to provide a true daily needs grocery store for the neighborhood. That meant the basics, produce, pantry staples, household items, and also an emphasis on local sourcing far beyond what conventional chains typically do. Shelves feature goods from farmers, ranchers, bakers, artisans, and makers from throughout Utah and the surrounding region, allowing shoppers to support hundreds of local producers during their regular grocery trips.
The co-op is owned by its member-owners, but everyone is welcome to shop. More than 2,000 community members have invested in ownership shares, each representing a voice in the future of the organization and a belief that a grocery store can strengthen a neighborhood as much as it feeds one.
Located within the Milk Block, the co-op has become an anchor for the growing Liberty Wells neighborhood. Stephanie credits property owners Kathia Dang and her husband, Sam for embracing a concept that was new to Salt Lake City and believing in its long-term value. She often compares the ownership model to REI - community-owned, open to the public, and built to return value to its members while serving everyone.
Accessibility remains central to the co-op’s mission. The store accepts SNAP and WIC benefits and offers programs that help make member ownership available to lower-income households. Partnerships with initiatives such as Double Up Food Bucks and Produce Rx further support access to fresh, healthy food for the surrounding community.
Beyond groceries, the co-op provides a welcoming café and gathering space where neighbors can enjoy locally prepared grab-and-go foods, fresh coffee, and conversation. Educational programming, including nutrition classes and workshops focused on healthy, affordable cooking, reflects the belief that food security includes not only access to fresh ingredients but also the knowledge and confidence to use them.
The Wasatch Food Co-op also carries forward one of the community’s favorite traditions with an extensive bulk foods department, encouraging customers to reduce packaging waste by bringing their own containers while purchasing exactly the quantities they need.
Every aspect of the co-op reflects the idea that community voices matter. New products and local vendors continue to be added based on customer feedback, allowing the store to evolve alongside the neighborhood it serves.
For Stephanie and Kathia, seeing customers walk through the doors represents far more than the opening of another grocery store. It marks the realization of a vision built over many years by thousands of people who believed Salt Lake deserved a grocery store owned by its community and dedicated to serving it every day. “It is open. We are legitimate. It is real.”
