About Us

Who are we? We are a diverse group of people. Outside of Rainbow, we are many things: artists, musicians, students, activists, carpenters, parents, lawyers, doctors, hairdressers and more. Most of us live in the Mission, while some of us commute from the Sunset, the Haight, the Excelsior, Bernal Heights, the North Bay and the East Bay. Some of us had never worked at a health food store before while others, after coming to Rainbow, have chosen to make a career out of it.

One thing we do have in common: we all enjoy working in an environment where the workers come first. As part of a worker-run cooperative, we are more than simply the labor-force of the company, we are the company. And while we have come to Rainbow for many different reasons, we all share the desire to work in a democratic place where everyone’s opinion matters. Not only do we hope to make a difference by providing healthy food and products, we believe that through our successful business model for cooperative work we have put the ideals of sustainable living into practice.

Since we moved from 15th and Mission to our new building at 13th and Folsom, we have more than doubled our workforce from about 85 people to over 200. While we add new workers every year, some of us are celebrating our 15th, 20th, even 25 year anniversaries! With such a wide range of experience and lifestyles represented among us, we offer each other many different perspectives and attitudes.

Indeed, Rainbow is more than just a job for us. And we hope that for you, our store is more than just a place to find healthy food.