Fiddlehead Market Co-op offers good food at fair prices in Bear River.
Open Now in Bear River, Nova Scotia!
We believe your grocery money shouldn't be paying corporate executives. Fiddlehead Market Co-op is run by the people who shop here, with profits that stay in Bear River. No executives taking a cut. Just neighbours feeding neighbours.
What is a Co-op?
A co-op is a store owned by the people who use it. You buy a share or volunteer then you become a part-owner and can vote on how it's run. Anyone can shop at the co-op, not just members.
At Big Grocery chains, prices go up so executives get bonuses. At a co-op, there are no executives to pay. Any money left over at the end of the year goes back to members or gets reinvested in the store.
Studies show co-ops consistently charge fairer prices, not because they're charitable, but because the model doesn't allow for anything else.
We’ll carry local food from farms you can name.
Fresh produce (vegetables, fruit, herbs)
- Healing Hands (Waldeck, NS)
- Wild Rose (Gilbert’s Cove, NS)
- Driftwood Greenhouses (Digby Neck, NS)
- Noggins (Annapolis Valley, NS)
- Veggie Squirrel (Bear River, NS)
Meat
- Windy View Farm (Annapolis Valley, NS)
- Tuckamore Acres (Wolfville, NS)
Eggs from Rocky Top Farm (Annapolis Valley, NS)
Mushrooms from Feeny's Fungi (Annapolis Valley, NS)
Deli meats from Brother’s (Dartmouth, NS)
Cheese
- Au Fond Du Bois (Rexton, NB)
- Annapolis Fine Cheeses (Annapolis Valley, NS)
- Fox Hill (Port Williams, NS)
Milk from Fox Hill Farm (Port Williams, NS)
Bulk spices, nuts and dried fruit
Bulk soaps from Down East (Dartmouth, NS)
Grains
- Speerville Flour Mill (NB)
- Bear River Farms (Bear River, NS)
Pantry staples (oils, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, rice noodles, pasta, etc.)
Apothecary products
- The Village Cauldron (Bear River, NS)
- Blackbird Hollow (Hampton, NS)
Food Box Subscription
Sign up for a bi-weekly box packed with fresh local groceries, produce, meat, dairy, and staples sourced from farms nearby. We do the sourcing and packing. You just pick it up.
Boxes start at $40/each on a sliding scale from $30 to $80. If you can pay a little more, you help cover the cost for a neighbour who can't.
Targeting October 2026 to launch this program.
Membership Benefits
A $100 one-time share makes you a co-owner of the store. Here's what that means:
- Vote on how the co-op is run and what to do with surplus profits. Each member gets 1 vote, regardless of number of shares.
- Share in the surplus. If the co-op votes to share the surplus with members, receive dividends at the end of the year
- Earn shares by volunteering: 5 hours of your time = 1 share
Can't afford $100 right now? Volunteer your way in.
We acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands of L'sitkuk in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) People first signed with the British Crown in 1725. The treaties did not deal with the surrender of lands and resources, but in fact, recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations.