Company: NGVC
Filing Date: 2025-12-11
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001437749-25-037556
Chunk: 800

Company: Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-12-11
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 800
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 reports to, and is supported by, a director of store operations and other staff.

To ensure a high level of service, all employees receive training and guidance on customer service skills, product attributes and nutrition education. Crew members are carefully trained and evaluated based on a requirement that they present nutrition information in an appropriate and legally compliant educational context while interacting with customers. Additionally, store Crew members are cross-trained in various functions, including cashier duties, stocking and receiving product.

Each of our stores provides in-store access to an NHC. The NHC is responsible for training our store Crew members and educating our customers in accordance with applicable local, state and federal regulations. Each NHC must have earned a degree or certificate in nutrition or a related field from an accredited school, complete continuing education in nutrition and be thoroughly committed to fulfilling our mission. Substantially all of our NHCs are full-time Crew members. The NHCs are overseen by Regional Nutritional Health Coach Managers.

Bulk Food Repackaging Facility and Distribution Center. We lease a 150,000 square foot bulk food repackaging facility and distribution center located in Golden, Colorado. That facility also houses a training center and certain administrative support functions.

Inventory. We use a robust merchandise management and perpetual inventory system that values goods at moving average cost. We manage most shelf stock based on weeks-on-hand relative to sales, resupply time and minimum economic order quantity.

Sourcing and Suppliers. We source from approximately 900 suppliers and offer approximately 2,600 brands. These suppliers range from small independent businesses to multinational conglomerates. As of September 30, 2025, we purchased approximately 84% of the goods we sell from our top 20 suppliers. For the year ended September 30, 2025, approximately 69% of our total purchases were from United Natural Foods Inc. and its subsidiaries (UNFI). In August 2023, we extended our long-term relationship with UNFI as our primary supplier of products in the natural, fresh and produce categories through September 3, 2028, subject to automatic renewals for successive one-year periods unless otherwise terminated by either party.

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We have contracts with third-party manufacturers to produce groceries and dietary supplements under the Natural Grocers brand. We have longstanding relationships with many of our suppliers, and we require disclosure from them regarding quality, freshness, potency and safety data information. Our bulk food private label products are packaged by us in pre-packed sealed bags to help prevent contamination while in transit and in our stores.