Who We Are and Where We’ve Come From

Our roots in the produce business extend back over forty years, to the days when Steve Maass made his living selling produce off a roadside stand in San Francisco. He provided great products and service at roadside prices. A value that still holds true today. Steve founded Oliver’s Market in 1988 in Sonoma County. The original Oliver’s mission was simply “to create a store where people would enjoy shopping”. Exactly how that is manifested has changed over the years, as our company has grown from one to four stores and from 13 to 1,100 employees, but the core elements remain the same:

• Provide Customers with Choice
• Keep the Focus Local
• Offer Fair Prices and Great Quality and Service
• Support Our Community
• Value and Support Our Employees

At Oliver’s Market, we serve a large and diverse customer base. We have always operated our business on the premise that we are here to provide choices for our customers, and not make choices for them. We keep it real with a large selection of both natural and conventional groceries. As a local, employee owned Sonoma County business, we’ve built enduring relationships with local growers, makers, and manufacturers, because they make the foods and wines we love. Come see for yourself why we’re the best grocery store in Sonoma County.

The Power of Local

We believe the best food and wine in the world are produced here, in Sonoma County. Along with local products being excellent choices for taste and quality reasons, buying locally also improves our local economy. According to a recent study conducted by Sonoma State University, buying Sonoma County products from Oliver’s Market benefits our local economy more than TWICE as much as buying national brands from chain stores. This is what helps fund YOUR community parks, roads and schools!

Click here to learn more about our local partners

Social Purpose Corporation Annual Report

Oliver’s Market became a Social Purpose Corporation (SPC) in 2017. It came about when Oliver’s founder and president Steve Maass opted to make this change and establish an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to preserve Oliver’s for years to come and reward the employees who have worked to build and sustain the company.

The commitments required to be a Social Purpose Corporation did not pose a dramatic challenge because they have been key pieces of Oliver’s culture since the first store was opened in November 1988. In summary, we are committed to serving “our employees, suppliers, and customers…as well as the Sonoma County community, including its people, businesses, agriculture, and environment.”

As a Social Purpose Corporation, we are required to complete and post an Annual Report. The goal for our initial 2018 Annual Report is to share the store’s achievements and advancements related to our Social Purpose Corporation tenets, and use these accomplishments as a baseline for our 2019 goals related to these areas.

Each year, we will update our progress and add new programs and outcomes as part of our commitment to continually innovate and improve.

Click here to read the full report.

This is Where We’re Headed

We act like we own the place because we do!