Kent Natural Foods

When I was a kid I loved this store. Eventually the time came to where I had to go to college, I chose Kent state and I still love this store. I walk down here as much as I can. The workers are amazing, the products are always fresh and never out of what I like. Love coming here, will never stop supporting this business!

They are always so friendly. I love all the food options for dietary restrictions

Excellent place to find ingredients for vegan recipes! The woman working there was very knowledgeable and recommended a great butter substitute that's been working well for me. Joined the co-op and will be back again soon! :)

You can bring your own containers to fill up on herbs, teas, coffee, and dry goods! Perfect for low-waste living. And there are so many supportive brands and food items. And the employees are wonderful; everybody feels like family here and I don't think I even know anybody's name! A truly magical experience everytime I go!

This evening I attempted to buy locally. I drove to Kent Natural Foods to buy ground maca & ground matcha. I had to ask the young kid sitting on the stool for help finding both. They did not have pre-bagged (I prefer not to buy anything loose due to the pandemic. However, I did find a small ag of fresh ginger root. I stood in line and watched the cashier with dreads talk on his phone while a lady was trying to get a certain amount of a dried loose good. This went on for three or four weighs, yes he's still on his phone. She cashes out and he waves to me. I placed my ginger root on the counter. He rings me up & I handed him a $5 bill. To his credit he did hand me the change, while still on his phone. However he TOSSED my ginger root back toward me on the counter. I was taken aback because I wasn't upset at this time- just disappointed at not finding the items I wanted. I asked for a bag and he tossed that to me also- while on his phone. I bagged my ginger myself & noticed that he hadn't given me a receipt. And he seemed perturbed that I wanted a receipt and that he had to print the transaction receipt. So I am left to assume that customers aren't appreciated at Kent Natural Foods, and I will be ordering from Calabash Tea online this evening. Oh, he did finally get off of his phone after my transaction.

It’s a great shame this business’ reviews were tainted by anti-maskers/vaxxers for implementing safe COVID procedures. Much of the pandemic and how stores operated was out of their control, and keeping staff/customers safe is always best, especially for small businesses. Anyway, I didn’t visit during the pandemic, but I recently started shopping here and I love it. Great selection, good message, and good vibes. I don’t have much of a comment on the customer service; it has been fine when I have visited. It is pricey, but it is still great quality and selection of what are often speciality products. I will continue shopping here when I’m in the area!

Wonderful selection of bulk foods and spices, as well as unique items.

I'm still new to the area, but I had a wonderful experience. I came in becasue my son fell across the street and I needed some first aid supplies. Everyone was so kind, and they helped me get some Band-Aids. Though the shop is small, their selection is quite surprising and we liked to get soem organic apples for an afternoon snack after walking around downtown. We will definitely be shopping again!

I shop here because they carry a specific product I use which I can't find anywhere else locally. In the past, the staff was friendly. However, the last few visits they have been very unfriendly and behaved as if my shopping there was a burden. Well, guess what? I won't be burdening them with my business again. If service is not an issue for you, the store carries a number of harder to find health food items but the prices are quite high for some of them. You can find many of the same products at Krieger's, Whole Foods or Trader Joe's for less. Often items on the shelf are out of date. They sell a good selection of bulk spices and staple items. The produce is from local farms and they have some nice selections depending on time of year.

It's small but filled with plenty, most everything organic, and they strive to buy Ohio-made goods or those regionally close. The fresh produce selection is out-of-the-world fresh (lots of local farm goods), and the bulk offerings are pretty sweet for beans, rice, flours, dried fruits/nuts, etc. I eat a ton of the local honey they source in bulk, and you won't find a better price for Ohio honey anywhere. You'll probably have to ask where something is, but odds are they have it, or they'll probably just order it for you. And paying the laughably cheap fee to become a member is a no-brainer, as you get a discount every time you shop on *everything*, unlike the national grocers. Get on their e-mail list and you'll find KNFC has specials from time to time too. Pricy? Good food is (and should be, when it is your neighbor growing it and trying to earn a living too), but honestly, if you buy organic goods, you won't get much better prices nor selection at the big-box stores. You get what you pay for, folks. And as a side note, with this COVID-19 going on, their curbside service has been just amazing. Check out their website for that info., but shop local, eat local, and be a local. (And vote!)

I'm not much of a health nut, I ended up here while my best friend was visiting from Columbus. He's a vegetarian and generally healthy-living guy who knows the ins and outs of good diets, vitamins and supplements. He LOVED this store. They have some gluten-free food items, some refrigerated. Their selection of vitamins is astounding, different caps and herbs from all over the world (i'm partial to the Swedish Bitters when I can't get my normal ones, though they're an expensive import and it's reflected in the price.) They also carry a selection of locally-made and organic products, things like dental products, shaving accessories and plenty of soaps. Finally, they've got a sweet selection of various candy, lots of licorice (the REAL Zotz included.) If I was a healthier person, i'd probably appreciate this store a lot more, but from my health-guru best friend, this place is da bomb.

Great place in downtown, great staff. You can find basically everything organic you could want there. They have liquid soaps of all kinds that you can bring your own bottles in to fill up, same with olive oil, and tahini yogurt. I like that they support minimal waste and make it easy to try to have less of an environmental impact. Definitely one of my favorite health stores and one i always try to go to when im in Kent. I'll often drive a good ways to go to Kent Foods Co-Op too.

I was raised in a town which is notorious for being a safe haven for hippies. Kent, Ohio, Kent State, May 4th - the place that the song "Four Dead in Ohio" was written about - if you don't know what I'm referring to you need to go back and review your American history. Just so that everyone is on the same page: During the Vietnam War, Kent was one of many Universities which were hotbeds of anti-war activism. (UC Berkeley being the other really well known one.) On May 4, 1970 (three years, six months, 11 days before I was born - five years to the day before my brother - Mike - was born) Nixon ordered the National Guard to "restore peace" to the Kent main-campus. In the course of a demonstration protesting the war and their campus being occupied by active military by the students, a (still to this day) unidentified National Guardsman opened fire w/live bullets (they were supposed to only have blanks) into a crowd of protesters - killing four students. If you know Kent at all it is probably for the shootings which occurred almost 40 years ago. (God, that's effing scary, I'm really close to 40 aren't I?) You probably don't know about all the famous people who have origins in Kent (Chrissy Hynde, Drew Carey, Arsinio Hall;) or, about the excellent fashion design school and world renowned fashion museum; or, about the Porthouse Theatre Company; or, about the amazing volunteer programs which Kent runs (Kent State for Biloxi - a Katrina relief program - headed by the Sparkmeister - is a great example;) or, about the outstanding education, science, music, dance and business programs KSU offers; or, about the great quality of life which is available to those who choose to live here and raise families... you probably only know about the shootings and associate hippies with those shootings. It's okay - it's like being from Salem, Massachusetts and having people only be able to reference the witch trials (and, if you've been to Salem you know there's a lot more goin' on there than that - though, the witch trials and that history is kinda cool.) Residents of Kent kind of accept this stigma and deal with it. I'm proud of my hometown and it's history of liberal activism. It is where I learned my morals and values and how to envision the type of world I want to live in... even if the rest of the world doesn't match the image which Kent ingrained on my memory, that's okay. I was brought up to believe that if you can imagine it, you can make it real. In recent years Kent has begun to shift a little - to catch up with the times - parts of Kent have been hard for me to recognize. The hippie coffeeshop I used to hang out in was turned into a Starbucks, the outlying areas of Kent Township have been developed into shopping malls and subdivisions with cheap student housing... A dorm I used to like was torn down to make a parking lot. The Kent Cinema has been turned into a live music venue (which is actually kinda cool - but, I miss the $1 movies)... Bars which once were regular haunts for me (both pre and post 21st birthday - sorry Mom & Sparky, I used to sneak into JB's Down to drink penny drafts with Arik when we were both 17) are gone... The Junior High School that both Chris K. and I attended has been turned into the home of the Board of Education and there is a humongous new "middle school" that has been built back behind the high school. Kent seems a little more homogenized than it did when I was growing up. Cleaner, more yuppy, different. The only thing which has remained exactly the same - exactly how I remember it - is Kent Natural Foods Cooperative. It still is the same, weird, hippy run joint that smells like patcholi oil upon opening the door. It is still impossible to shop there for your entire grocery order because they really only carry a small selection of fresh and frozen organics; and, a lot of canned/dry stock. You can still purchase a variety of cleansing kits to get THC out of your system there (not that I know ANYTHING about that!) And, you can still buy lots of great bath/body products that make you feel all earthy and natural and pretty for (what considering I live in SF the capital of organic b&b schtuff) is a higher price than I like paying. I even think that the same two dreadlocked employees work there from all those years ago when I used to pop in there on a regular basis to pick up this or that. Kent Natural Foods has stayed the same. Somehow this is comforting to me in a town which is beginning to catch up with the rest of society. Comforting that a piece of my ideal world is still here. Yeah.

Surprised to see people saying how friendly the staff is. I went in this morning with a friend for the first time. Very small and dark. But the thing that will keep me from returning is that the clerk never once looked up to greet us or ask if we needed assistance finding anything. We were the only two patrons in the store! It bordered on rudeness! I will stick to Seven Grains and The Mustard Seed.

Been shopping here since they opened and loving it, but the newly renovated coop is better than ever. Clean and spacious, with so many bulk products to choose from. I hate buying so much packaging and here you can buy the amount that you need and refill your own containers. They also have a great selection of produce and refrigerated and frozen foods. Colorful and friendly and vibrant.

Updating this review because I have such an appreciation for small businesses now. The people here are also always super nice and helpful. This is one of the places that makes Kent so great! I agree this place is VERY small but they work with what they have. The people there are incredibly nice and they have some interesting things here. They have different kinds of mushrooms that I've never seen before and other beautiful produce. My favorite things they have are the carob covered peanuts and cashews. They are wonderful. I can't do all of my shopping here, but if I am in downtown Kent, I usually stop in to pick up a little something.

So, I really live here now and...this is a cute little local food coop. Doesn't carry meat, doesn't carry many affordable cheeses, doesn't have the local Amish connections that Krieger's (Cuygahoga Falls) and Seven Grains (Tallmadge) do, doesn't seem to be able to keep their produce fresh (maybe because the truck only comes once a week). If you like consensus run organizations that have a very hard time being organized and really having a successful business plan--go to the coop members meetings! Or, like the rest of us, buy a membership to get a discount, get some stuff here because it's close, but do a periodic grocery shop somewhere that has the selection you need.

Having lived in northern California for 10 years, I have seen how natural food coops can be run properly and make it an enjoyable experience for all. No expired/tainted food. Friendly/informed staff. This place is typical of what you'll find in Kent. Overpriced and lacking. I hope you LOVE patchouli... EVERYTHING FROM THIS STORE SMELLS LIKE PATCHOULI. And if you're in there long enough, you will too. Buy pine nuts in the fridge and toast them and the overwhelming smell of patchouli will leave you sad you spent the money and even sadder you're not adding them to your dish. Buy bulk rice and not notice the worms you scooped into your bag along with the rice until you get home. The produce, especially if not in the summer, mostly comes from Mustard Seed so you can buy something not so fresh at twice the price it should be. Did I mention the patchouli? Not to mention the store is terribly small and the staff have no clue what is in their store or, if they don't have it, if they can order it. Beware the pita bread in the back. We bought it once and it was moldy. Then, stupidly, we bought it again thinking it was just a fluke. Mold, mold, mold. Save yourself the money and the trouble and make the trek to Kreigers or Whole Foods or Mustard Seed if you have too.

The KNF co-op is only getting better with age. A great place to find seasonal local produce that is free of pesticide, locally-baked breads and lots of vegetarian/vegan offerings. Spices. Yeast flakes. Dark chocolate with big chunks of sea salt...everything I need! And if they don't carry it, they can oftentimes order it for me. No more expensive than Mustard Seed or Whole Foods and for most Kent-ites, it's walkable! Friendly workers and always a parking space in back!

Small little store packs a punch.. For Organics and health food... Well priced items and hard to find items..Very good to have a store like this in Kent..

Anyone who has ever lived near a decent coop will be disappointed with this one. It's cute, and the staff are friendly, but it's veeeery small. One aisle up, one aisle back, and that's about it. They do have a little bit of a lot of things... but only a little bit. The prices also seem astronomical - way higher than I've paid in Boston or San Diego, and the 5% discount you get by joining as a member (for $45/yr) would never make up for the difference. It would be very difficult for most people to do all of their shopping here. And the larger grocery stores in the area carry a pretty good selection of local and organic produce and other items, so I'm not sure the need exists so much now. I'll probably still go there occasionally for convenience, or just for fun, and because I like to support the businesses in town, but I'll probably be driving to Kriegers and Giant Eagle for the bulk of my weekly shopping.