A Stroll Through the Early Health Food Aisles

Long before “organic” became a supermarket buzzword and kombucha filled coolers on every corner, a handful of pioneering companies were laying the groundwork for what we now call the natural foods industry. Their stories reveal a curious mix of entrepreneurial grit, nutritional idealism, and in many cases, spiritual or philosophical conviction.

At the very root of American health food culture were the cereal pioneers of Battle Creek, Michigan. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, a Seventh-day Adventist physician, and his brother Will Keith Kellogg founded the Kellogg Company in 1906. Their invention of corn flakes was not just about breakfast—it was part of a broader vision of clean, vegetarian living. Around the same time, C.W. Post, a patient at Kellogg’s Battle Creek Sanitarium, launched his own company, Postum Cereal Co. (1895), which would evolve into Post Consumer Brands. Post popularized cereals like Grape-Nuts, drawing heavily on Kellogg’s health-reform ideas but turning them into mass-market food.

Even before them, in 1863, James Caleb Jackson created “Granula” at his New York sanitarium, often considered the first ready-to-eat breakfast cereal and the ancestor of granola. And in the 1890s, peanut butter was being promoted at health sanitariums as a digestible protein for invalids, later reaching a wider audience at the 1904 World’s Fair. These foods were the prototypes of what would fill natural food shelves a century later.

Across the Atlantic, Weleda was founded in 1921 in Switzerland, inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophic medicine. The company emphasized harmony between humans and nature, producing herbal remedies and biodynamic body care products that remain staples in natural food stores worldwide. In the U.S., Arrowroot Health Products (emerging in the 1930s, tied to Adventist health reform) specialized in vegetarian products and natural ingredients, continuing the Sanitarium lineage in a more consumer-friendly form.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., the supplement and herbal pioneers began to emerge. Standard Process (1929) under Dr. Royal Lee promoted whole-food concentrates; Hain Pure Food Company (1932) offered vegetarian and kosher packaged goods; Hauser Laboratories (1932) supplied botanical extracts; Schiff Vitamins (1936) built trust in purity; and Solgar (1947) innovated with scientific rigor and amber glass bottles. Herbal formulations also gained ground with Avita Herbs, founded in the 1920s, one of the first American herbal brands.

Whole food staples became a familiar sight: Kretschmer Wheat Germ, founded in 1936, introduced wheat germ to mainstream America, while Viobin, also in the 1930s, pioneered wheat germ oil as a vitamin E-rich supplement. These brands kept alive the idea that concentrated nutrition could come from simple whole foods.

The Bragg family also carried this torch. Paul Bragg, beginning in the 1920s, promoted apple cider vinegar as a tonic and advocated a lifestyle of exercise, plant foods, and self-discipline, inspiring later fitness icons. Alta Dena Dairy (1945, California) built a following around raw milk, while Lundberg Farms (1937, California) promoted organic rice and soil conservation, making farming itself part of the health crusade.

The late 1940s brought other cultural touchstones: Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps (founded in 1948) wrapped its peppermint castile soap in dense, spiritual messages of “All-One” philosophy, linking cleanliness to moral and cosmic harmony. Though eccentric, Dr. Bronner’s became a beloved countercultural staple.

By the 1960s, natural foods were no longer fringe. Shaklee Corporation (1956) introduced natural vitamins and eco-friendly cleaners; Arrowhead Mills (1960, Texas) supplied stone-ground flours and cereals; Deaf Smith Peanut Butter Company (1960s, Texas) became a hippie-era favorite for its additive-free spread. And in 1969, the back-to-the-land energy crystalized into Celestial Seasonings (herbal teas, Boulder), Eden Foods (macrobiotic co-op, Michigan), and Nature’s Way (Arizona herbal supplements).

Strolling through the aisles of the many small “mom and pop” health food stores of the 1950s and 1960s — particularly in California, but increasingly across America — one might find bins of date sugar, carob chips, raw honey, dried dates, whole grains, stone-ground flours, nuts and seeds, split peas, barley, nutritional yeast, blackstrap molasses, refrigerated raw milk, along with bottles of Viobin wheat germ oil, Kretschmer wheat germ, and a few well-worn herbal or macrobiotic cookbooks. These stores had an earthy scent of bulk foods and optimism — and served as the grassroots marketplace where the ideals of the pioneers met everyday shoppers.

By the 1970s, with the founding of Bob’s Red Mill (1978, Oregon), the whole-grain revival was firmly established. Bob Moore’s stone-ground flours and oats bridged the old-world milling tradition with modern natural food enthusiasm, cementing the place of bulk grains and baking staples in every co-op.

Together, these companies represent a lineage stretching from 19th-century sanitariums to hippie-era co-ops. Whether it was Jackson’s first granula, Kellogg’s corn flakes, Paul Bragg’s vinegar, or Celestial Seasonings’ chamomile tea, each step carried forward the same belief: food is more than fuel — it is philosophy, medicine, and a way of life.

Timeline of Founding Dates (Quick Reference)

• 1863 – James Caleb Jackson invents “Granula,” the first commercial cereal
• 1890s – Peanut butter commercially promoted (later popularized at 1904 World’s Fair)
• 1895 – C.W. Post launches Postum Cereal Co. (Grape-Nuts, Postum)
• 1906 – Kellogg Company founded (corn flakes, Battle Creek, MI)
• 1920s – Bragg Live Food Products (Paul Bragg, apple cider vinegar)
• 1920s – Avita Herbs (early American herbal brand)
• 1921 – Weleda (anthroposophic remedies, Switzerland)
• 1929 – Standard Process (whole-food supplements, WI)
• 1932 – Hain Pure Food Company (vegetarian/kosher packaged foods)
• 1932 – Hauser Laboratories (botanicals, Boulder, CO)
• 1936 – Schiff Vitamins (Salt Lake City)
• 1936 – Kretschmer Wheat Germ (first branded wheat germ, NY)
• 1937 – Lundberg Farms (organic rice, CA)
• 1945 – Alta Dena Dairy (raw milk, CA)
• 1947 – Solgar (scientific vitamins, NY)
• 1948 – Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps (peppermint castile soap, CA)
• 1930s era – Arrowroot Health Products (vegetarian/Adventist foods)
• 1956 – Shaklee Corporation (natural nutrition & eco-cleaners, CA)
• 1960 – Arrowhead Mills (stone-ground grains, TX)
• 1960s – Deaf Smith Peanut Butter Co. (natural peanut butter, TX)
• 1969 – Celestial Seasonings (herbal teas, Boulder, CO)
• 1969 – Eden Foods (macrobiotic co-op, MI)
• 1969 – Nature’s Way (herbal supplements, AZ)
• 1978 – Bob’s Red Mill (stone-ground grains, OR)

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