Natural Grocers, a food and supplemental store chain with organic heart

November 5, 12:49 PMOrganic Food ExaminerNatalie Rotunda

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A logo faithful customers know they can trust.
Natural Grocers

Colorado-headquartered Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage is unlike any grocery store I’ve ever heard of! They’re laser-focused on supplying customers with organic and natural foods, off-the-chart service, a nutritionist in every store, and company-educated employees who can tell customers what part of the body a particular supplement will help. (Important: None of the nutritionists or employees either prescribe or diagnose.)

The family-owned and operated chain currently has 33 stores. They’ll soon add their 34th, and within the next few years expect to open another six. For those of us not living in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, or Texas where the stores are located, we’re missing out on partnering with a committed food and supplement resource!

Recently, I spoke with Kemper Isely, company co-president. What came through almost immediately was this: the aim of the company started by his parents in 1955 (as Vitamin Cottage)  is one of caring…for the health of their customers, for a fantastic working environment for their employees, for high quality, healthy foods at an affordable price. The word ‘service’ has been beaten to death, but in its best sense, it describes what Kemper and his company strive to provide on a daily basis. Nancy Flynn, Director of Marketing, told me, “I love working here. It’s a company with integrity.” She adds, “And they’re good people to boot. They walk the walk.”

Natural Grocers stocks only organic produce, and none of their shelves contain foods with ingredients more and more of us are choosing to ban from our diets: hydrogenated oils, MSG-added foods, artificial colors, flavors or preservatives; and dairy products with rGBH (recombinant bovine growth hormone). High fructose corn syrup? “We have stopped adding any products that have that in it,” Kemper says. “We think that sugar in particular is not good for you and it’s [HFCS] just another form of sugar. The whole theory is that you want to consume things that are good for you and you want to limit the foods that have sugar in them and are reserved as a treat.”

Margaret Isely founded the store on a set of five principles, and today, her family strictly adhere to them. In addition to eliminating those ingredients described above, they are, briefly, to sell products having the highest quality and standards (they scrutinize ingredients in everything they buy), at affordable prices. To educate their consumers. To properly compensate employees and provide full-time (30 hours a week) employees with health insurance. To give back to the communities where their stores are located, with educational outreach and charitable giving.

The day I spoke with Nancy Flynn, she’d just returned from the media event that kicks off their annual food drive that benefits the Food Bank of the Rockies. She hired on 15 years ago as a cashier. With company training, she put that knowledge to good use in the nutrition aisle, as well, meeting and talking with customers. Every employee is likewise trained. “We have a super, super training program,” she says. “Customers can trust us,” she says. Obviously, Margaret Isely’s ability to impart valuable information to customers has become a tradition that employees follow. “She got the customers excited about the company,” Nancy says. “She was a very charismatic person, very sincere.”

As of Earth Day 2009, the company, one of the first in the country to do so, became totally bag free. Customers either bring their own, or buy reusable ones the store sells. Just 1-1/2 years ago, the company eliminated plastic bags; a year ago, they switched to paper-bags only. The transition has been a successful one. Its impact? Kemper estimates five million fewer plastic bags in existence. “A lot of skeptics within the company thought it would not be successful,” he says. “As a good corporate citizen, you have the obligation to try and lower your environmental impact.”

One of the pet peeves Kemper talks with customers about almost daily is the meaning of the word ‘natural.’ “A lot of chain stores out there advertise natural meat,” he says. “The consumer needs to be aware that a natural label doesn’t necessarily mean it was raised natural.“ The company solely relies on meat raised on small ranches like River Ranches based in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. “They’re as close as you can be without being organic,” he says. “His cattle are free range.”

They also rely on Mary Pitman’s farm in California for organic, heritage, and free-range turkeys. Customers can still place their orders for one of Mary’s Turkeys on Natural Grocers’ website. (Mary’s Turkeys does not ship directly to customers.) They’ll be ready for pick-up in store on the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

After talking with Kemper and Nancy, I think it's pretty safe to conclude that Natural Grocers is a food and supplement store unlike any other---one with an organic heart, and plenty of it.

Next, my interview with third-generation poultry farmer Mary Pitman.