Major Food Group Has Never Invested in a Grocery Store Until Now: Introducing Wilder

The neighborhood market is one of the oldest ideas in food retail, and one of the most consistently compromised. Wilder, which opens this fall at 3250 NE 1st Avenue in Midtown Miami, is a specific attempt to fix that. Founded by Danielle Axman, a Miami local and entrepreneur, the nearly 8,000-square-foot market is built around a single proposition: that a neighborhood grocery can hold itself to the same standards as a Michelin-recognized kitchen, and that eating well should feel like a pleasure rather than a research project.

Photo Credit: Wilder

Wilder combines three things that rarely share a roof at the level they each deserve. A full grocery assortment of approximately 4,000 carefully selected products, guided by The Wilder Standard, a rigorous sourcing and ingredient framework developed alongside independent experts spanning nutrition, food science, epidemiology, regenerative agriculture, and environmental health. A café program with coffee, breads, fresh juices, and smoothies. And a chef-driven prepared foods program built by Grassfed Culture Hospitality, the Michelin-starred Miami group behind Los Félix, recognized with both a Michelin Star and a Green Star for sustainability, and Krüs Kitchen, also recognized with a Green Star.

The sourcing framework includes partnerships with Paradise Farms, Glaser Organic Farms, and White Oak Pastures, among others, and prioritizes direct relationships with regional farmers and producers throughout Florida and the surrounding region. The Environmental Working Group, the leading independent research and advocacy organization in food and agriculture, serves as a founding advisor — the first time the nonprofit has partnered with a retailer on health standards.

Photo Credit: Wilder

Axman’s motivation is personal. “When I became a mother, everything about how I fed my family changed. Suddenly I was reading every label, researching where our food came from, and driving out to meet the farmers myself. I wished there was one place I could shop without having to do all that homework every week. That’s why I built Wilder. My goal is to create a market where the standards are real, the food is genuinely delicious, and eating well feels like a pleasure, not a project.”

Photo Credit: Wilder

The prepared foods program spans hot and cold options, made-to-order sandwiches, a rotating selection of salads and protein-forward dishes, and a full café program running morning to evening. Grassfed Culture Hospitality developed every element, building a reputation in Miami for Michelin-level cooking grounded in local, seasonal sourcing and a beverage program centered on organic, natural, and biodynamic wines, craft beer, and non-alcoholic options.

“A healthy family and community have always been our North Star — and we’ve built everything at Grassfed Culture around that belief,” says Josh Hackler, CEO and Co-Founder of Grassfed Culture. “When we understood what Wilder was trying to be, it was an easy yes. This is exactly the kind of place we wish existed in every neighborhood — somewhere you can trust the food, know where it came from, and feed your family well without having to think twice.”

Photo Credit: Wilder

Major Food Group, the globally celebrated hospitality company founded in 2011 by Mario Carbone, Jeff Zalaznick, and Rich Torrisi and behind more than fifty restaurants, private clubs, bars, and hotels across fifteen cities worldwide — including Carbone, The Grill, Dirty French, ZZ’s Club, Sadelle’s, Contessa, and Torrisi — joins Wilder as a founding investor and strategic advisor. The investment is MFG’s first in a business outside its own operations and its first in the retail grocery category.

“We’ve spent our careers building places people return to — and the neighborhood market is one of the oldest, most enduring versions of that idea,” says Mario Carbone. “Danielle has brought high standards to the concept and real hospitality to the experience. We don’t put our name behind things lightly, but we believe in this team and in what they’re building with Wilder.”

Designed by Miami-based Love Lake Studio, Wilder draws inspiration from old-world markets, the English countryside, and vintage Americana, with abundant natural light, a mix of vintage furnishings and one-of-a-kind pieces, and an indoor-outdoor flow that includes a patio and outdoor pickup window. The result is a space designed to be returned to rather than simply visited.

For more of Haute Living’s Miami coverage, see Why Chef Izu Ani Chose Miami Beach for GAIA’s American Debut and Nicola Siervo Brings the Italian Riviera to the Miami River with Mercante.