The Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank

What The Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank does

The Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank is a grassroots non-profit charity headquartered at 6501-47 Street, Wetaskiwin, Alberta, operating in Treaty 6 Territory. Founded in December 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic by Executive Director Craig Haavaldsen and Operations Manager Becky Flowers, the organization serves any individual or family needing access to food without requirements, forms, or income verification. Its core offerings include a free grocery store (open Friday afternoon through Sunday), a year-round community greenhouse producing fresh produce and traditional medicines, a community kitchen for food preservation and meal preparation, and a free cafe serving no-questions-asked meals. Since inception it has supported 10,000+ people and distributed over 100 tons of food, with 77 families fed on its opening night (Christmas Eve 2020).

The underlying technology is intentionally low-tech: a physical greenhouse, a community kitchen, and a walk-in retail-style general store model. A PayPal donation button (PUM7DMVPLCJAC) handles online giving, and Skip the Depot provides a door-to-door bottle-pickup donation channel across Edmonton, Beaumont, Leduc, Nisku, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and other Alberta locations. The organization complements food security with education and skill-building (food gardening, sustainability, cooking) and a corporate volunteering program offering tours, smudging ceremonies, and hands-on activities.

The business model is donation- and grant-driven rather than revenue-generating. Income streams include individual donations via PayPal, grants and community foundation support, planned social enterprise ventures, and in-kind food donations from corporate partners such as HelloFresh. The organization is volunteer-run, with 5 listed staff and a volunteer base drawn from people with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, seniors, youth, and LGBTQIA2S+ community members. Strategic partnerships with Starbucks Canada, HelloFresh, Joni, Skip the Depot, Community Food Centres Canada, and the Leduc and Wetaskiwin Chamber support both supply and visibility.

Name

The Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank

Legal name

Rock Soup Greenhouse and Food Bank

Website

https://rocksoup.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank is a Wetaskiwin, Alberta-based grassroots non-profit that operates a barrier-free grocery store, year-round community greenhouse, community kitchen, and free cafe serving any food-insecure individual or family in rural central Alberta without requirements or forms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food Bank and Community Food Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAEAA

Food Assistance & Food Banks

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Services & Community Support (Food, Housing, Family)

Keywords

• Community food bank
• Free grocery program
• Food insecurity services
• Community greenhouse
• Non-profit charity

Headquarters

HQ city

Wetaskiwin

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Monthly donations from individuals and supporters. PayPal donation button on website. Skip the Depot bottle pickup donations for those in Edmonton, Beaumont, Leduc, Nisku, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and other Alberta locations.
2. Grants and Foundations: Financial support from grants and community foundations.
3. Social Enterprise: Planned small ventures to help fund programs while creating local employment and skill-building opportunities.
4. Food Donations: Food and supply donations from community members, local organizations, and corporate partners like HelloFresh.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank operates a barrier-free free grocery store that allows community members in Wetaskiwin, Alberta to select food without prerequisites, referrals, or means-testing. The organization complements grocery distribution with a community greenhouse, community kitchen, free café, corporate volunteering program, and a food gardening program that together form a dignity-centered response to local food insecurity.

Product overview

Rock Soup Greenhouse and Food Bank operates as a non-profit community organization offering multiple interconnected services centered around food security and dignity. The core offerings include a Free Grocery Store (barrier-free shopping experience), Community Greenhouse (year-round food production and education), Community Kitchen (meal preparation and cooking skills), and Free Cafe (no-questions-asked meals). Additional programs include a Corporate One-Day Volunteering Program and Food Gardening Program for community engagement. The organization is volunteer-run and intentionally secular, separate from government, serving anyone without income-related requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Grocery Store

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000+ people supported with access to good, healthy food since opening in December 2020
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Starbucks CanadacoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 7 June 2022Starbucks Canada team members visited from Toronto, BC, and Alberta for tours, volunteering, and a smudging ceremony. Partnership aligns on inclusion and diversity values. Store Manager Jocelyn in Wetaskiwin organizes ongoing support.
• Leduc and Wetaskiwin ChamberminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2022Rock Soup became a member of the Leduc and Wetaskiwin Chamber. The Chamber participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the organization's first anniversary and provides ongoing support and recognition.
• HelloFreshcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerHelloFresh provides meal kit delivery service with easy-to-follow recipes and fresh, high-quality ingredients. They commit to offsetting 100% of direct carbon emissions. Partnership involves food donations and visibility support for the food bank.
• JoniminorGTM or Marketing PartnerOrganic period care company providing sustainable and biodegradable pads and tampons. They partner with non-profits in advocating for period equity policies across Canada and help distribute sustainable period care options to those who need them.
• Skip the DepotcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDoor-to-door bottle pickup service. Users can choose Rock Soup as their designated charity when scheduling pickups. Service available in Edmonton, Beaumont, Leduc, Nisku, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and other Alberta locations.
• Community Food Centres Canada (Good Food Organizations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRock Soup is one of 270+ Good Food Organizations representing communities across Canada working towards a healthy and fair food system. The partnership provides network support and shared resources.
• Wetaskiwin Mayor Tyler GandamminorOthersMayor Tyler Gandam attended the one-year anniversary ribbon-cutting ceremony and publicly thanked Rock Soup for valuable services to the community.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Edmonton Food Bank: Major Alberta-based food bank serving the Edmonton region. Closest geographic and mission peer to Rock Soup, operating hampers and food distribution at significantly larger scale in the same province.
• Calgary Food Bank: Large Alberta food bank serving Calgary and area. Operates a more traditional hamper model, providing a benchmark for the scale and approach Rock Soup could grow into while highlighting its differentiation via the no-barrier model.
• Moisson Montréal: Large Quebec food bank serving greater Montreal. Comparable mission and food-distribution scale, providing a benchmark for how Rock Soup's model might professionalize and scale.
• Feed Ontario: Provincial food bank association in Ontario, similar role to Food Banks Canada at the provincial level. Comparable mandate of coordinating food recovery, distribution, and member support.

Direct peers

• Community Food Centres Canada: National network of which Rock Soup is a member (Good Food Organization badge). Operates a portfolio of community food centres with similar dignity-centered, multi-service programming (food access, kitchens, gardens), making it both peer and network umbrella.
• Second Harvest: Canada's largest food rescue organization redirecting surplus food to non-profits. Operates at the food-supply side of the same value chain Rock Soup depends on, with overlapping donor and volunteer ecosystems.
• The Stop Community Food Centre: Toronto-based community food centre combining food bank, drop-in meals, community kitchens, gardens, and activism. Closest operational analog to Rock Soup's integrated grocery + greenhouse + kitchen + cafe model.

Broad incumbents

• Food Banks Canada: National umbrella association for the Canadian food bank network. Sets standards and aggregates donors across the same beneficiary population Rock Soup serves, making it a structural incumbent peer.

Others

• HelloFresh Canada: Meal-kit company that is an active food-donation partner to Rock Soup. Included as an ecosystem/partner peer rather than direct competitor, reflecting the in-kind supply relationship.
• Skip the Depot: Door-to-door bottle pickup service routing refunds to designated charities including Rock Soup. Represents the donation-channel/infrastructure side of Rock Soup's funding stack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/rocksoupgreenhouse
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rock-soup-greenhouse-and-food-bank-4530641bb
• Instagraminstagram.com/rocksoupgreenhouse

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Rock Soup Greenhouse & Food Bank