WESTERN MONTANA GROWERS COOPERATIVE

What WESTERN MONTANA GROWERS COOPERATIVE does

Western Montana Growers Cooperative (WMGC) is a farmer-owned cooperative founded in 2003 and headquartered in Missoula, Montana, that operates a regional local food distribution business across two channels. The wholesale division aggregates products from 50+ member farms and dozens of regional producers and delivers fresh produce, dairy, eggs, meat, honey, and value-added items to restaurants, grocery chains, schools, hospitals, and institutions across Montana, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington. The cooperative also runs a direct-to-consumer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription program, aggregating 14+ member farms to deliver weekly vegetable boxes for a 20-week summer season and a 6-week fall season to 20+ pickup sites across Western Montana, with optional add-on shares for eggs, milk, yogurt, bread, mushrooms, cheese, goat cheese, honey, and flour sourced from named partner producers.

WMGC's underlying technology is a modest e-commerce stack: a Local Food Marketplace online ordering platform for wholesale accounts (wmgcoop.localfoodmarketplace.com) and a separate CSA subscription portal (wmgccsa.localfoodmarketplace.com), supplemented by an SMS wholesale alert system and email newsletters. Distribution is supported by a refrigerated warehouse at 1500 Burns Street in Missoula and refrigerated truck delivery achieving a 24-48 hour harvest-to-customer window. The cooperative also operates a Double SNAP Dollars program in partnership with the Community Food & Agriculture Coalition (CFAC), and accepts SNAP benefits to broaden access to local food for low-income community members.

The cooperative's revenue model is split between recurring CSA subscription revenue ($415-$610 for a 20-week summer share, with early-bird discounts and an additional $80-$175 fall share) and transactional wholesale revenue from B2B customers who order from the online catalog with Monday/Thursday inventory posting and next-day delivery. Pricing includes tiered early-bird discounts, add-on subscriptions priced annually, and a gift certificate channel. Customer segments are diversified across grocery retail (Whole Foods, Yoke's Fresh Market, Super 1 Foods), institutional food service (University of Montana, Missoula County Public Schools, St. Patrick Hospital), restaurants (Montana Ale Works, The Montana Club), hospitality (Resort at Paws Up), and individual CSA subscribers, with food banks and community organizations as a nonprofit segment.

Name

WESTERN MONTANA GROWERS COOPERATIVE

Legal name

Western Montana Growers Cooperative

Website

https://wmgcoop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Western Montana Growers Cooperative is a farmer-owned cooperative in Missoula, Montana that distributes locally grown produce and value-added food products via B2B wholesale to grocers, restaurants, and institutions across Montana, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington, and via CSA veggie box subscriptions to individual consumers across Western Montana.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Food Distribution and CSA Subscriptions

SIC

Wholesale-Groceries & Related Products (5140)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm-to-Consumer Cooperative Markets (Local Producer Co-ops) (CRAHALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Farm-to-Consumer Produce Boxes / CSA Delivery (AFAIANAC), Regional/Local Broadline Foodservice Distributors (AFAIAAAB)

Keywords

• Wholesale produce distribution
• CSA vegetable subscriptions
• Farmer-owned cooperative
• Local food aggregation
• Refrigerated food delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Missoula

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. CSA Subscriptions: Community Supported Agriculture vegetable box subscriptions sold directly to individual consumers. Summer season (20 weeks) and Fall season (6 weeks) share options with optional add-ons including eggs, milk, cheese, bread, mushrooms, honey, and flour.
2. Wholesale Distribution: B2B wholesale sales of local produce and food products to restaurants, grocery stores, institutions (schools, hospitals), and other businesses. Sales cycle involves posting available inventory on Mondays and Thursdays with next-day delivery.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Western Montana Growers Cooperative is a farmer-owned cooperative that aggregates produce and food products from 30+ member farms and dozens of regional producers for wholesale distribution to restaurants, grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and institutions across Montana, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington. It also sells Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable and fruit box subscriptions directly to individual consumers, with weekly delivery to 20+ pickup sites across Western Montana during the 20-week summer and 6-week fall seasons. Optional add-on shares include eggs, milk, yogurt, bread, mushrooms, cheese, goat cheese, honey, and flour from partner producers.

Product overview

Western Montana Growers Cooperative operates a two-part business model: a B2B wholesale local food distribution service and a direct-to-consumer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription program. The wholesale division connects 50+ member farms with restaurants, grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and institutions across Montana, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington through an online ordering platform. The CSA program offers seasonal vegetable box subscriptions (Summer Season with Large or Small shares; Fall Season share) with optional add-on shares including eggs, milk, yogurt, bread, mushrooms, cheese, goat cheese, honey, and flour from partner producers. The cooperative also offers a Double SNAP Dollars Program to expand food access and gift certificates for CSA shares.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CSA Veggie Box Program (Summer Season) Community Supported Agriculture subscription delivering weekly local vegetable boxes during the 20-week summer growing season (May-October). Offered in two sizes: Large Share (7-12 items weekly, $610) and Small Share (5-10 items weekly, $415). Delivered to over 20 pickup sites across Western Montana.
• CSA Fall Season Share Six-week fall CSA subscription (October-November) delivering storage crops and fall produce including winter squash, onions, apples, and root vegetables. Priced at $175 for summer members and $190 for non-members.
• Wholesale Local Food Distribution B2B wholesale marketing and delivery service supplying fresh, frozen, and value-added Montana food products to restaurants, grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and institutions across Montana, Northern Idaho, and Eastern Washington. Features 50+ member farms and online ordering platform.
• Egg Add-on Share Weekly delivery of one dozen Mission Mountain Organic Eggs (20 deliveries, $150). Eggs come from pasture-raised hens fed organic Montana grains.
• Milk Add-on Share Weekly delivery of Lifeline Farm milk ($115-$175) in half or full gallon sizes (20 deliveries). Non-homogenized milk from Brown Swiss cows raised on pasture.
• Yogurt Add-on Share Weekly delivery of Kalispell Kreamery whole milk Greek yogurt ($115), 32oz container every week for 20 deliveries.
• Bread Add-on Share Weekly delivery of Le Petit Bakehouse bread ($120), one loaf every week for 20 deliveries. Selection includes Italian Deli, Sourdough Deli, Super Grain, and Kaiser Rolls.
• Mushroom Add-on Share Weekly delivery of Swift Current Farms mushrooms ($95), 4oz package every week for 20 deliveries. Rotating selection including lion's mane and blue oyster varieties.
• Cheese Add-on Shares Every-other-week cheese deliveries from Lifeline Farm (Family Cheese, $170) and Flathead Lake Cheese Co (Cheese, $105). Includes Cheddar, Montzarella, Jack, Gouda, curds, and feta varieties.
• Goat Cheese Add-on Share Every-other-week delivery of Amaltheia Dairy organic goat cheese ($TBD), 8oz package for 10 deliveries. Rotating selection of fresh organic goat cheese from Belgrade farm.
• Honey Add-on Share Every-other-week delivery of Wustner Brothers Honey ($80), 8oz jar for 10 deliveries. Raw honey from bees foraging on untreated wildflowers and knapweed in the Sapphire Mountains.
• Flour Add-on Share Every-other-week delivery of Conservation Grains stone-ground whole grain flour (~$2lb bag, 10 deliveries).
• Online Ordering Platform Web-based ordering platform for wholesale customers to browse products, place orders, and manage accounts. Available at wmgcoop.localfoodmarketplace.com for wholesale and wmgccsa.localfoodmarketplace.com for CSA members.
• Double SNAP Dollars Program SNAP benefit recipients a one-to-one dollar match on produce purchases through partnership with Community Food & Agriculture Coalition (CFAC), expanding access to local food.
• Gift Certificates Gift certificate program allowing purchase of CSA shares and storefront items as gifts for friends and family.

Quantifiable outcome

• Food grown locally uses 17x less fuel and emits 17x less CO2

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Community Food & Agriculture Coalition (CFAC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2024Partnership to offer Double SNAP Dollar Program, providing SNAP recipients a one-to-one dollar match on produce shares. Helps stretch SNAP benefits for low-income community members to access fresh local produce. Funding is limited and administered through CFAC.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Charlie's Produce: Largest independent produce wholesaler in the Pacific Northwest, supplying restaurants, grocers, and institutions across multiple states. Same wholesale channel and regional geography as WMGC but operates at broadline scale with national sourcing.
• US Foods: Second-largest U.S. broadline foodservice distributor. Same competitive overlap as Sysco for WMGC's wholesale institutional and restaurant accounts.
• Food Services of America: Regional broadline foodservice distributor covering the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West, including Montana. Direct competitor to WMGC's institutional and restaurant wholesale accounts (schools, hospitals, restaurants) on price and SKU breadth.
• Sysco: Largest U.S. broadline foodservice distributor. Competes with WMGC for institutional accounts (hospitals, schools, restaurants) on year-round product availability, pricing, and category depth — a structural incumbent against regional cooperatives.

Direct peers

• Organically Grown Company: Pacific Northwest organic produce wholesaler that aggregates from multiple organic farms and distributes to retailers, restaurants, and institutions. Closest comparable in business model — multi-farm aggregation, regional wholesale, organic/sustainable positioning — though it operates at significantly larger scale.
• Full Circle: PNW-based farm-to-table company combining CSA-style produce subscription boxes with wholesale distribution to restaurants and grocers. Nearly identical dual revenue model to WMGC, with both consumer subscriptions and B2B delivery on the same logistics backbone.
• Misfits Market: National D2C produce subscription company focused on surplus and misshapen produce. Comparable to WMGC's CSA on subscription mechanics, pricing tiers, and consumer target, though national rather than regional.
• Imperfect Foods: Direct-to-consumer produce subscription box service operating on a weekly recurring model. Comparable to WMGC's CSA side; competes for the same 'values-driven produce subscriber' customer and demonstrates the addressable scale of D2C produce subscriptions.

Others

• National Co+op Grocers: Cooperative grocer services organization supporting independent food co-ops nationwide. Comparable to WMGC on cooperative ownership structure and member-driven governance, though operating in retail rather than wholesale distribution.

Regional players

• SnoRidge Wholesale Produce: Pacific Northwest produce wholesaler serving grocers and restaurants. Regional distributor comparable to WMGC's wholesale side, though focused on the Washington State footprint rather than Montana.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/westernmontanagrowerscoop
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/western-montana-growers-cooperative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

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 WESTERN MONTANA GROWERS COOPERATIVE