High food prices force non-profit grocery store chain in Massachusetts to shut down

Daily Table, a non-profit grocery store with several locations in Massachusetts, is shutting down.

The store, which was founded by former Trader Joe’s executive Doug Rauch in 2015, aimed to provide easier access to affordable, healthy food in Greater Boston.

Daily Table closing

Rauch told WBZ-TV in 2019 that it was a “health initiative masquerading as a food store.”

“The cheapest form of health care is good food,” he said.

But the board of directors announced on Friday they had to close, after serving more than 3 million customers.

“The pressures of facing historically high levels of food price increases, to the current uncertain and difficult funding environment, sustaining Daily Table has become increasingly difficult,” they said in a statement.

“Without immediate funding to bridge us through 2025, we cannot continue. After careful consideration, we have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that we can no longer continue operations.”

Daily Table had five locations as recently as last year. The stores in Dorchester, Roxbury and Salem closed Sunday. The Cambridge store will close Monday. The fifth store, in Mattapan, closed back in January.

How the non-profit grocery store worked

During its ten-year run, Daily Table made deals with distributors to get food that other supermarkets wouldn’t pay for. Some markets won’t accept food that’s a few weeks away from its expiration date. Daily Table would take that perfectly good food so it wouldn’t end up in a landfill.

In addition to lower prices, the store also offered a 50-percent discount to customers shopping with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

“Every time a customer comes in and buys something they couldn’t afford that was healthy, that’s a success,” Rauch said in 2019.

“While immediate challenges have led to the closure of our stores, we remain as committed to the mission of Daily Table as ever and firmly believe that this model can be replicated elsewhere,” the board said in its statement.

If you need help finding affordable, healthy food, you can find some resources here.