WinCo Foods is a family of employee-owned grocery stores, with its own distribution and transportation network. The company can trace its beginnings back to 1967 when Ralph Ward and Bud Williams founded a discount warehouse grocery store in Boise, Idaho under the name of Waremart. The company operated stores under the names of Waremart Food Centers and Cub Foods until 1999 when it changed its storefront name and the corporate name to WinCo Foods, which stands for Winning Company. WinCo Foods is currently owned by its employees. In 1985, the WinCo Foods Employee Stock Ownership Trust (Employee Pension Plan), headed by then president Bill Long and with full support of store personnel and management, purchased from the Ward family a majority interest of WinCo, giving WinCo employees a real ownership stake in the company. The company continued its rapid growth and by 2000 had replaced a majority of its retail stores with updated and expanded facilities. WinCo Foods currently has over 20,,000 employees and operates over 130 stores throughout Washington, Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and Montana.

More than a grocery store, we are the unique local gathering place. We are real people; making community connections, providing education, delicious food and quality products from trusted partners. We are independent and caring; leading with our hearts and giving back to those who make us who we are. We are your neighbors. We are the Boise Co-op.

Intermountain Specialty Food Group was founded in 1992 by Debbie & Jody Chidester as a result of her ongoing passion for great food. She did the recipe development, Jody did the tasting. She had worked in some great restaurants and took pleasure in entertaining their friends with fabulous meals. When asked for her recipes, she would tell them about the chopped garlic, fresh herbs and different spices used. Now, we're not saying that their friends were lazy (we prefer to view them as “time challenged”) but they wanted an easier way. That’s when the fun began. Debbie converted all of those good fresh ingredients to dried and they were in business. In the beginning they focused on ways to make quick and easy pasta dishes that would rival those in the best restaurants. As they have grown and added products they still keep in mind everything must be quick and easy as well as healthy. And last but certainly not least the flavors must be outstanding. After all, our main goal at Intermountain Specialty Food Group is to help you make fabulous food fast.