Boulder’s Wild Oats grocery chain reborn as CPG brand

BOULDER — KeHe Distributors LLC, an Illinois-based grocery distributor, is bringing back a familiar name in the Boulder natural and organic products scene: Wild Oats.

But the revived Wild Oats isn’t Wild Oats Markets Inc., the Boulder-based chain of natural grocers that was acquired by Whole Foods nearly two decades ago. Rather, KeHe is applying the Wild Oats brand to a line of consumer packaged goods that includes organic juices, smoothies and eggs. 

“We are proud to reignite the spirit of the Wild Oats brand to, once again, propel the food industry forward,” Wild Oats brand director Will Rosenheimer said in a prepared statement. “Our goal is to spark a revolution that will be regeneratively cultivated, free range, and ethically-sourced, and we won’t stop until we reach every category and aisle in the grocery store.”

With annual sales of about $1.2 billion when Whole Foods inked a deal to buy the chain in 2007, Wild Oats was one of the leading natural and organic food retailers in North America. Founded in Boulder in 1984, the company acquired competitor Alfalfa’s Markets in 1996, and operated 110 stores in 24 states and British Columbia, Canada before its acquisition, according to BizWest reports from the time. 

KeHe, which has its corporate headquarters in the Chicagoland suburb of Naperville, established its “Innovation HQ” in Boulder in 2023, according to New Hope Network, a local natural and organic industry group. 

“The new, 10,000-square-foot facility will feature an elaborate kitchen complete with technology to film cooking demos and hold classes; collaboration spaces; spaces dedicated to video and audio production, including podcasts; and a planogram lab, which will help emerging brands better understand how best to organize and display products on grocery shelves to boost sales,” New Hope reported at the time.

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