Company: NGVC
Filing Date: 2025-12-11
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001437749-25-037556
Chunk: 808

Company: Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-12-11
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 808
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® , Organic Headquarters®, Organic Month Headquarters®, Organic Produce Headquarters®, Natural Grocers Cottage Wine and Craft Beer®, Natural Grocers Cottage Craft Beer®, Resolution Reset Day®, Resolution Reset Week®, and These Came First® . We do not own or license for use any patents, franchises or concessions that are material to our business. Our trademarks are generally valid and may be renewed indefinitely as long as they are in use and their registrations are properly maintained.

Information Technology Systems

We have made significant investments in overhead and information technology infrastructure, including purchasing, receiving, inventory, point of sale, store scheduling, warehousing, distribution, accounting, reporting and financial systems. We use an ERP system with an integrated merchandise management, reporting and accounting system at all of our stores, as well as at our bulk food repackaging facility and distribution center and for corporate functions including accounting, reporting and purchasing. Our ERP system application support and hardware functions are outsourced, which allows us to focus on our core business. We also have an enterprise-wide HRIS, which has enabled us to more efficiently and effectively manage our human resources and payroll needs at all locations. In recent years, we have implemented a new point of sale system, deployed new handheld technology and VoIP telephony solutions at all our stores, and increasingly leveraged cloud technology in our information technology systems. We have also invested in upgrading communication circuits and refreshing network and security hardware and systems at all our stores and our corporate headquarters, and we are making investments to upgrade our ERP system. We plan to continue investing in our information technology infrastructure with systems that scale with and add efficiencies to our operations as we continue to grow.

Regulatory Compliance 

We are subject to various federal, state and local laws, regulations and administrative practices that affect our business. The safety, formulation, manufacturing, processing, packaging, importation, labeling, promotion, advertising and distribution of products we sell in our stores, including private label products, are subject to regulation by several federal agencies, including the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission (the FTC), the USDA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (the CPSC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), as well as by various state and local agencies.

Food Products. The FDA has comprehensive authority to regulate the safety of food and food ingredients (including dietary supplements and pet foods but excluding meat, poultry, catfish and certain egg products, which are regulated by USDA) under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FDCA). The USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service regulates and regularly ins