Immokalee co-op expands amid grocery store gap

As Immokalee remains without a full-service grocery store following Winn-Dixie’s closing last October, the food cooperative at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has expanded its offerings to help fill the gap. 

The space on Lake Trafford Road once occupied by Winn-Dixie, which served the community for many years, sits empty as it awaits the arrival of ALDI, which purchased the parent company of Winn-Dixie in 2024 and plans to open its own store later in 2026. 

And while there are other options — including Dollar Mart, Estates Dollar Store and El Ahorro Dollar store, online shopping and a Publix in Ave Maria — CIW saw an opportunity to help make local grocery shopping more affordable in a community that produces food for many. 

In a social media post after Winn-Dixie closed, CIW announced its plans to expand offerings and lower prices to help meet the community’s needs, while citing the irony of Immokalee becoming a “food desert,” a federal definition of an area in which it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. 

“There is a cruel irony in this: The very farmworkers who harvest the fruits and vegetables that feed our nation are now struggling to feed their own families,” CIW said in its Facebook post. 

CIW was founded by farmworkers in 1993 to advocate for fair wages and improved working conditions, and to stop involuntary servitude in the agriculture industry. The food cooperative grew out of that movement and started in a room at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Immokalee before moving in 2008 to the current CIW offices at 110 S. 2nd St. 

In an interview, CIW staff member Cruz Salucio said that when Winn-Dixie closed, prices started to rise at some of the smaller grocery stores in the area. 

“Our idea was to expand the food co-op a little bit, make the space bigger and bring in more products for the community to buy at lower prices,” Salucio said. “We started with a few products, the basic cooking essentials, and we’ve expanded the selection to include newer ones. 

“For example, we have more over-the-counter medicines that the community asked for, the type of medicine that you can find at different pharmacies — Tylenol, aspirin, cough syrup and allergy medications — because the community needs it.” 

Salucio said the not-for-profit cooperative sells everything at wholesale prices, making it more affordable for local residents. He said the food cooperative is seeing an increase in shoppers, serving about 500 families a month. 

The CIW co-op does not sell fresh produce, Salucio said, but farm stands and farmers markets in town are resources for a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. 

‘Food desert’ health challenges 

While Immokalee residents find other grocery options, health care and public health experts express concern about the effects on the population of living in a “food desert.” 

Jamie Ulmer, president and CEO of Immokalee-based Healthcare Network, said access to fresh, affordable food “is truly fundamental to health care.” 

“Without that, you run the risk of decreasing an entire community’s health outlook,” Ulmer said. “If you lose your only full-service grocery store, it becomes more than just an inconvenience of having to drive farther or having to find a way to get to a grocery store. It literally becomes a public health concern.” 

Ulmer said many Healthcare Network patients in the Immokalee area must contend with transportation challenges, while also struggling with a greater risk of chronic conditions including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. 

“If a patient leaves our clinic and returns home without stable housing or without a reliable food source or transportation, their health outcomes are directly affected by that,” Ulmer said. 

Regarding transportation challenges, District 5 Collier County Commissioner Bill McDaniel said the county had started a special bus service in collaboration with the Collier Community Foundation last fall to take residents to the Publix in Ave Maria, but it was discontinued after a month due to a lack of riders. 

McDaniel said immigration raids occurring in the area — many targeting buses transporting immigrants to work — “did not help the cause in any way, shape or form.” 

Maria Plata, an Immokalee resident and public health professional, said the closing of Winn-Dixie has made it more challenging for some to provide fresh food for their families and has increased anxiety levels for many. 

“People tend to have a lot more anxiety when they’re going to the store because they know they’re going to be paying a lot more and they’re going to be getting a lot less,” Plata said. “When people don’t have a full-service grocery store that has a large variety and also different price points within the community, they’re also starting to limit what they’re purchasing. 

“So, people are tending to base their meals on what they can afford, and sometimes it’s cheaper to get something that’s more of a snack or junk food, and not a complete meal.” 

Plata said people “might even stretch out food a little longer than they should, which could also cause more public health issues with food that’s not being kept properly, or food kept past its time because they don’t want to waste food.” 

She said the community is eager to see what ALDI is planning and is curious about whether the grocery company will hold any community meetings to hear about culturally appropriate food selections. 

“I think that would be a great next step and a great conversation to have,” Plata said. 

ALDI opening ‘later this year’ 

As for the timing of ALDI’s arrival in Immokalee, Regional Vice President Chris Hewitt said via email that the store opening is expected “later this year.”

“We are happy to share that we are continuing to make headway on our first store in Immokalee, which is expected to open later this year,” Hewitt said in a written response to questions.

Hewitt said that all ALDI store locations, including the future Immokalee store, are approximately 12,000 square feet of retail space, “making them much easier to navigate than traditional grocery stores.”

He said ALDI intends to hire 15 to 20 full- and part-time associates to staff the new store, and said open positions for ALDI can be found at careers.aldi.us.

“We will remain closely engaged in the coming months to provide more details on the opening timeline and look forward to bringing quality groceries and everyday essentials at the lowest prices of any national grocer, according to the dunnhumby 2026 Retailer Preference Index, to the Immokalee community,” Hewitt said.

He said that while the company is not planning any pre-opening community meetings, they are “excited to serve the Immokalee community.”

Hewitt said ALDI focuses on delivering a curated product selection “designed to meet a wide range of tastes and needs, with new and on-trend items regularly introduced through our ever-evolving assortment and our rotating ALDI Finds.

“Everything about the ALDI model is intentionally designed to make shopping simple, convenient and affordable,” he said in the written statement. “Our smaller store format offers a quick, easy shopping experience and features a focused assortment of everyday grocery essentials.”

While the store will not include a deli counter or bakery, Hewitt said shoppers can expect “a strong selection of fresh, high-quality products, including produce delivered daily, quality meats, and a range of fresh and frozen seafood, alongside pantry staples and household favorites.”

As the community awaits ALDI’s opening, Salucio said that CIW is accepting donations that it said will “help ensure that one to three farmworker families have access to affordable groceries for the week.”

Donations to CIW can be made at ciw-online.org.