Portland, OR to Welcome its 1st Health-Focused Grocery Store

A new small-format concept combining a market, a nutrition classroom and a discovery kitchen under one roof in Portland, Ore., will aim to boost access to foods at peak nutrition.

Basics Market is scheduled to debut on Sept. 15 with a community celebration at 5035 NE Sandy Blvd., anchoring The Portland Clinic at what used to be the site of the well-known Gustav’s Der Rheinlander Restaurant. A second store is slated to open by the end of the year, in Tualatin, Ore., with a third, in Beaverton, Ore., on tap for next year.

At a mere 7,500 square feet, Basics will offer what consumers require to cook nutritious meals at home. Ingredients will be organized by recipes at five meal stations, developed by an in-house culinary director and vetted by a nutritionist for optimal health. Shelves will offer only a few choices in every category, with an emphasis on local and sustainable suppliers whenever possible. Seasonal produce will be delivered fresh daily, and high-quality regional meats and dairy products will be available.

A third of the space will be devoted to nutrition and culinary education, with a full schedule of classes held daily. An in-store nutritionist will advise shoppers on improving their health. The Portland Clinic is expected to join forces with the store to help patients manage various health conditions.

“When you have the skills to cook your own meals and a little nutrition guidance, you’re really taking your health into your own hands,” noted Store Manager Erin Leiker. “What’s important to all of us is fostering heath and connections in the store, around the table and at the farm. That’s what attracted me to Basics.”

Behind Basics is a collective of farmers, ranchers, grocery veterans and consumer packaged goods experts assembled by Chuck Eggert, whose family practices regenerative agriculture while also managing some of the largest organic farming operations in Oregon. Much of the meat, poultry and eggs at Basics will come from Eggert family farms.

“We think one of the best things for your health is to cook your own food, and that the most nourishing ingredients you can use are in season, grown locally,” said Eggert, who also co-founded Tualatin-based organic food company Pacific Foods. “One of the ways we saw to help people get the best nutrition was to make what we grow and raise here in Oregon more accessible, and we’re working with others to do the same.”