Company: NGVC
Filing Date: 2025-12-11
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001437749-25-037556
Chunk: 789

Company: Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-12-11
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 789
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 includes providing the highest quality groceries and supplements, Natural Grocers brand products and only United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified organic, fresh produce.

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			Always Affordable PriceSM. We work hard to secure the best possible prices on all of our customers’ favorite natural and organic foods and supplements. We believe everyone should be able to afford to help take care of their health by buying high-quality competitively priced natural and organic products.

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			Community. From free nutrition education, to bag-free checkouts, to sourcing local products, to our fundraising and donation programs, we strive to serve the communities that help shape our world.

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			Our Crew members. Our Crew members make our Company great. We work hard to ensure that our Crew members are able to live healthy, balanced lifestyles. We support them with free nutrition education programs, good pay and excellent benefits.

In 1998, the second generation of the Isely family, including Kemper Isely, Zephyr Isely, Heather Isely and Elizabeth Isely, purchased our predecessor and the Vitamin Cottage® trademark and assumed control of the business. Since then, we have grown our store count from 11 stores in Colorado to 169 stores in 21 states as of September 30, 2025. We have also implemented numerous organizational and operational improvements that have enhanced our ability to scale our operations. We believe that by staying true to our founding principles, we have been able to continue to attract new customers, extend our geographic reach and further solidify our competitive position.

Our Markets

We operate within the natural products retail industry, which is a subset of the United States grocery industry and the dietary supplement business. This industry includes conventional supermarkets, natural, gourmet and specialty food markets, domestic and foreign-based mass and discount retailers, warehouse clubs, independent health food stores, dietary supplement retailers, drug stores, farmers’ markets, food co-ops, online retailers, meal delivery services and multi-level marketers. Industry-wide sales of natural and organic foods and dietary supplements have grown over the past several years, and we believe that growth will continue for the foreseeable future.

We believe the growth in sales of natural and organic foods and dietary supplements continues to be driven by numerous factors, including:

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			greater consumer focus on high-quality nutritional products;

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			an increased awareness of the importance of good nutrition to long-term wellness;

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			increased awareness by consumers of the importance