Nature's Bakery Cooperative

Nature's Bakery was born out of the Madison co-op movement of the late 1960s. Whole Earth Grocery Co-op on East Johnson Street was started in 1969 as the first store in Madison to provide natural foods--they provided the community with environmentally and socially responsible products in the Whole Earth Catalog.

In September 1970, Gini Lopez and the founding crew of Nature’s Bakery, who baked bread at home for sale at Whole Earth and around Madison, rented 1101 Williamson Street and founded Nature's Own Bakery. They began baking in a large oven donated by Edgewood College and Whole Earth, and the bakery became certified thanks in part to donations from the Sunflower Kitchen and the Mifflin Street Co-op. The business changed to a partnership in 1974, and in 1975 was incorporated as Nature's Bakery, Ltd. and moved into our current facility at 1019 Williamson Street.

Today, Nature’s Bakery stands proud as a seasoned W***y St. standby and we’re thrilled to be approaching the big 5-0 with our vigor and vitality still a-pumpin’.