Where We Stand
An honest update on Smokin' Oaks — straight from us.
“If you’ve landed here, you may have seen news about Smokin’ Oaks filing for Chapter 11, and you might be wondering what it means. We’d rather you hear it from us than from a headline — so here is the truth, plainly.
First and most important: we are open. We are fully operational. We are not going anywhere. Our stores are serving customers, our team is at work, and our mission has not changed.”
What Chapter 11 Actually Means
Chapter 11 is a reorganization tool, not a closure. It's a structured, legal way for a business to reorganize its obligations while continuing normal operations — which is exactly what we're doing.
Like a lot of growing businesses, we took on obligations in a different economy. Rising costs, inflation, and supply-chain pressure made some of those no longer fit the world we're actually operating in. This process gives us a structured way to reorganize that debt while we keep doing the work.
We chose this path on purpose: to strengthen our foundation, protect jobs and relationships, and make sure this mission can keep going and grow for years to come.
In plain terms: this is not a company going under. It's a company doing the deliberate, unglamorous work of steadying its foundation so it can keep building.
What Hasn't Changed
None of why we exist has changed. Regenerative agriculture. Local farmers. Clean, traceable food that more people can actually reach.
A food system rooted in the community it serves. All of it is the same today as it was a month ago — and this process exists to protect that mission, not to walk away from it.
Our commitment to our customers, our producers, and our community is exactly what it has always been. If anything, this process is intended to make sure that commitment can continue and grow.
For Our Members and the Cooperative
The cooperative and the restructuring are separate.
Participation in the cooperative is distinct from the Chapter 11 process — it was built as its own structure, for the long-term work of building a community-owned food system, and that work continues forward independent of this reorganization.
If you're a member, a vendor, or a partner with questions specific to your relationship with us, we want to answer you personally rather than leave you guessing. Please reach out directly — we're glad to talk.
How You Can Help
If this mission matters to you, the best thing you can do is simple: stand with us, out loud.
Tell a friend. The more people who understand why clean, local food is worth fighting for, the stronger this gets.
Shop with us. Every visit to the market is a vote for a different food system — and right now, it's also how you help keep this one standing.
Spread the word. Share this page with someone who needs the truth instead of the headline.
None of this gets built by one person with deep pockets. It gets built by a community that decides clean food is worth building together. So let's do this — together.
This is the part of the story where it would be easy to assume the worst. We're asking you to know the truth instead: we're still here, still building, and more certain than ever of why it's worth doing.
This is an ongoing process, and we'll keep this page updated as things move forward. If you have questions, bring them to us — we'd rather talk than have you wonder.