Before coming to SF, I already heard about how Rainbow Grocery had around 800 bulk food items, but boy was I blown away! You can basically get EVERYTHING you would need for your home, from the usual Veggies and Fruits, to a bakery, diary, grains, spices, coffee, tea, cleaning products, it's zero waste dream! Plus, they give you a 5¢ credit for every reusable container / bag you bring. Also, a 10¢ credit if you don't take any bag(s).
Even better, Rainbow Grocery's mission is to provide local, organic, and directly from local, independent suppliers! From their website:
The size and quality of our Bulk Department is an important part of Rainbow Grocery’s mission to provide quality, affordable food that is grown with the minimum negative ecological impact. In the Bulk Department, we do this by:
- Buying goods directly from local, organic farmers and from independent, local manufacturers
- Encouraging customers to use recycled containers brought from home (You get a five cent credit for every recycled container or bag you bring from home to refill with your favorite bulk foods.)
- Carrying organic products whenever possible
- Carrying both commercial and organic versions of many of our products if we believe that the organic version might be cost prohibitive to some of our customers
- Carrying a wide selection of fair trade coffees and chocolate
It's simply amazing what you can get here. Plenty of items you can find at the bulk section of either Whole foods or Sprouts, so I'll put emphasis on package free items I've only seen sold at Rainbow and nowhere else. Let's start filling up the pantry!
Fruits / Veggie section
So what makes them have an advantage over Sprouts or Whole Foods is their variety. You can easily get washed ready to eat salad greens, all organic! Their mushroom section was also extremely impressive, with Portobello, Shitake, and plenty of not commonly seen mushrooms ready to take home.
Bakery
Some of their breads were already packaged, some weren't. Maybe if you go earlier it's all package free. (We got there at around 18:00) Bagels were delicious, with a wide range of flavors to choose from. also a lot of gluten free & vegan options!
Pasta
Even more amazing, they sell bulk pasta! Not only the dry stuff, but even Fettucini, Ravioli, and a lot of other fresh pasta! I was utterly impressed! Unfortunately I didn't get to try any, since we're traveling around and couldn't buy too much stuff.
Fermented / Tofu
THEY HAVE ORGANIC TOFU! KIMCHI! THIS PLACE IS AMAZING! So back to my normal voice, Rainbow offers Miso, Tofu, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, olives, what "can't" you find here? I saw another shopper that brought beeswax wrap to buy tofu, and glass jars to get kimchi, it was a refreshing sight! Of all the visits to Sprouts, I've only seen one Grandma bring her own produce mesh bags to purchase items. But yeah, it simply is amazing how many choices you get here!
Diary (Straus)
Rainbow also offers Straus Family Creamery products, from their organic milk, butter, to organic ice cream! The ice cream and butter are still in recyclable plastic, but you can get their milk and when you return the rinsed bottle get your 2$ deposit back! See my post here for more details.
Coffee / Tea
One problem you usually encounter at bulk coffee sections in supermarkets: Freshness. I didn't purchase any coffee, but from the smell of it you could tell their coffee was pretty fresh. Also not as common is bulk tea, with over 50 different teas to choose from.
Baking Products
So other than the usual wheat flour, there’s also potato starch, corn starch etc. Rainbow provides a ton of chocolate chip selections, so you can get pretty much anything you would need for baking goods.
Herbs / Oils
Almost any oil you could want is available here! Olive, Sunflower, Sesame, Rice bran, Canola, Safflower, etc… Grab one of their reusable bottles or bring your own! Most of the oils come from California, so you’re also supporting local businesses.
Beauty Products / Cleaning Products
I’m no expert in beauty products, so see for yourself! They also have a wide variety from Sweet Almond oil, Rosewater, and you can get pretty much any cleaning product from hand soap, shampoo, body lotion etc, there’s even massage oil!
So to wrap up, you can get everything most households would need from the bulk section, so a one stop location to go zero waste, buy organic and local, it’s hard not to like Rainbow Grocery, so come visit whenever you’re in the bay area!
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