Fruitful Yield is a family-owned natural health food store carrying over 20,000 products. They stock natural vitamins and supplements, organic produce, healthy snacks, clean skincare, and natural pet care products, with strong selections for vegan, paleo, organic, non-GMO, soy-free, and other specialty diets. They’re also the retail home of NOW Foods, the nationally recognized supplement brand launched by the same family in 1968.
Origin Story
Fruitful Yield’s roots reach back to World War I, when Dr. Charles E. Fearn developed soy-based products as alternative protein sources for troops.
After the company changed hands, a trained pharmacist named Paul Richard purchased it, and when he passed in 1960, his three sons inherited the business. The eldest, Elwood Richard, opened the first Health House store in a tiny Elmhurst location in 1962, less than 500 square feet, stocking mostly foods and supplements. By 1971, the growing chain was renamed Fruitful Yield Health Foods.
In 1968, Elwood also founded NOW Foods, which started as Fruitful Yield’s house brand and grew into one of the most recognized natural supplement companies in the country. The business has remained family-owned throughout, and the Elmhurst location where it all started carries special significance in the company’s 60-plus-year history.