Welcome to The Food Mill, your natural foods community marketplace!

Located in the Upper Diamond District in Oakland, California, we've provided 85 years of dedication to helping customers make better decisions about their health and well-being, while providing the finest quality foods and supplements available.

We offer 100% Organic produce, beauty and hygiene care, supplements, groceries with a dedicated gluten-free section, and boast a large bulk selection with over 800 items, featuring a wide variety of flours, nuts, granolas, snacks, culinary and medicinal herbs and spices, and pre-packaged items for convenience. We bake our own breads, snacks, and famous cookie bars on site, keeping true to the old-fashioned style of keeping it simple. We roast and grind our own nut butters on original equipment, which are available jarred or in bulk.

Nutritional consultants are one site daily to provide information and guidance toward health conscious options for optimized living. We strive to serve our customers by helping them achieve their goals in obtaining maximum health.

Looking for something specific or large quantities? Let us special order it! With access to multiple distributors and companies we can order items not regularly carried, or in bulk quantities. Bulk orders save between 5-10%!

Stop by to see what healthy living's all about. We look forward to meeting you!

our history:

The Food Mill was established in 1933 during the heart of the Great Depression. John Denis, once a stone-mill salesman, was out of work like many others and had to get creative. He and his father (a steelworker who helped build the Golden Gate Bridge) set up a few unsold mills and began to peddle their own whole grain flours door to door. Eventually they opened a little shop on Hopkins Street (now MacArthur Boulevard), and The Food Mill was born.

As Oakland's first natural foods store and it was well received, run by the Denis family clan for 60 years. Primarily a grain milling business at the start, local farmers would bring in grains, nuts, fresh and dried fruits for milling or sale. Much of the store's inventory came in this way through the 1970's, and was key for providing the quality ingredients used in their delectable baked goods.

In 1969, a new member to The Food Mill family was introduced. The young 16-year-old Kirk Watkins began packaging Food Mill cookie bars part time, just as his older brother had done before him. Over time he worked his way up the ranks, eventually becoming the manager. After the passing of the original owner, John Denis, the family offered to sell the store to Kirk in 1993. Eventually his family would join him, including his brothers, wife, son and daugher in law, keeping it a true family affair.

"We stayed true to who we were, and everyone else kind of evolved to the commercial type of grocery store," said Kirk. "We have that old homey feel of a general store."

Although some things have changed at over the years, the history undoubtedly remains, and the heart only continues to grow.