Editor’s note: According to Mark Rector, owner of Soluna Cafe, the Soluna Cafe closure is considered temporary.
JACKSON, Wyo. – Jackson Hole has recently seen two healthy cafes make the decision to close their doors after struggling to keep up with costs in the community.
Healthy cafes have defined themselves in Jackson Hole as restaurants with the aim to improve the health and wellness of customers in an environmentally sustainable way. They put an emphasis on superfoods and organic ingredients to nourish and energize the body.
Most recently, Cultivate Cafe had their last day open on Feb. 20. They cited “a steep decline in business this past year” as the reason for their decision.
Cultivate Cafe was a locally owned restaurant specializing in gluten-free home-style cooking with plant-based and paleo options. Cultivate owners Savanna and Sky Garnick were committed to only using organic ingredients free from fillers such as natural flavors, citric acid and alcohol. They used high-quality non-seed oils and all take-out products and trash bags were sustainable and biodegradable.
“It is a costly endeavor, but something we believed so much in,” the Garnicks said. “We tried to stay as competitive with our prices so we were still within reach of other restaurants, but it ultimately hurt us.”
Savanna and Sky are hoping to find a creative way to restructure Cultivate Cafe for the future, but unaffordable employee housing and rising costs of rent due to property tax increases are barriers they face.
Cultivate’s closure came after Soluna Cafe announced their decision to close on Jan. 29. Soluna Cafe similarly said “we are simply unable to outpace startup expenses to maintain our space, a challenge we have faced since opening.” And if people remember Lotus Cafe, a 100 percent organic restaurant that closed its doors in 2018 after being unable to afford expansion, community cafes with missions to source organic and nourishing ingredients seem to have a tougher time keeping up with costs in town.
However, the demand in Jackson Hole for organic and local food seems to be resisting these closures.
“The demand and excitement for healthy and local food and products is stronger than ever from our perspective,” says Jessica Vandenbroeke, owner of Healthy Being Café & Juicery. Healthy Being has been in business in the valley for over 11 years.
Vandenbroeke points to the expansion of two weekly summer farmers markets, the monthly winter markets and the year-round online market as huge progress in community interest of locally grown and healthy food. “More of our local community seems to be appreciating the benefits of eating well and noticing how it can improve how they feel and the energy they have for life’s adventures,” Vandenbroeke says.
Yet despite local interest in organic ingredients and clean food, tourism was the bulk of business for Cultivate Cafe. After tourist numbers decreased in the past year, there is a bigger need for an extended local customer base to support businesses as the rent cycle and food costs keep going up.
