Hunger Mountain Food Co-op - Montpelier, VT

Hunger Mountain Food Co-op

Opened: 1996 in current location; 1960 previously

Owner: cooperatively owned

Previous Tenants: none

Cooperative: National Co-op Grocers

Location: 623 Stone Cutters Way, Montpelier, VT

Photographed: August 13, 2025

We've seen more food co-ops in New England than I've posted anywhere else, and that's because the co-op culture is still very strong in this part of the country. Look no further than the Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier for evidence. This co-op has been active since 1960, building the current 20,000 square foot facility in 1996. It's a large and busy supermarket, modern and appealing with an interesting selection of products. The focus in the grocery aisles is on natural foods, but this is definitely a full-line supermarket that also has a large selection of locally-made and grown products.

The grocery aisles are on the right side when you enter, with the produce department opposite that on the left side. Behind that all are the deli and prepared foods departments, which also includes a cafe overlooking the Winooski River. Dairy, cheese, and meat/seafood are behind that in the back-left of the store, with bulk foods, HABA, and baked goods on the left side. At least, that's how I remember it, though as you can see the layout isn't a standard grid setup so I'm just a little foggy.

The co-op stores I've been to in New England all have had a major emphasis on local produce, and this store is no different. On the other hand, some of the local supermarkets also strongly feature locally grown items. More on that soon.

And you can see here that produce is kind of in the middle of the store. It's a winding path through the store but a beautiful setup.

The co-ops in New England, as I've mentioned previously, also have remained committed to in-store food service (see this one's menu here) even as many chain supermarkets ditch the prepared foods and ready-to-eat options, or at least cut them back.

It looks like this store has been renovated at least once since it opened, or at least I would be extremely surprised if this is how the store looks 30 years in. If that's the case, kudos -- it looks great.

I'm not sure if there's an in-store bakery here, but there's a lot of local breads and other baked goods. Having traveled pretty extensively in the northeast and mid-Atlantic, I would say Vermont has some of the best baked goods (and food overall) that I've encountered. Almost every store I've seen has some beautiful breads, either fresh-made or from a local bakery, and plenty of the smaller grocers like the general stores make their own delicious pastries and other sweet things.

A large bulk section is up front, including bulk coffee beans, lots of grains and nuts, and even kombucha on tap.

Health and beauty items are opposite this area, with the registers in front.

I think this was in fact my favorite food co-op that I visited in Vermont, though there's no shortage of them. Here's an interesting way to put it in perspective: Vermont has around 130 supermarkets, and around 15 of them are food co-ops, or around 11%. I believe that's the highest percentage of food co-ops in any state, though of course I haven't done the math on every one. Montpelier's other supermarket, though, is a big-chain store, and we're going to take a look tomorrow!