Natural Grocers has tallied stronger and stronger net sales in recent years, and the specialty chain’s colorful, fast-growing private label assortment is a big reason why.
Over the past two years, Natural Grocers has flexed its private label muscles by launching 80 new products in 2024 and 59 in 2023, accounting for 8.5% and 7.9% of total sales, respectively, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Currently, Natural Grocers’ private brand goods span six categories — grocery, body care, bulk, household products, pets and supplements, according to its website. As of the end of fiscal year 2024, the grocer reported having approximately 800 private label product SKUs, per an SEC filing.
Already this year, the grocer has introduced more than 20 new private label items. By the end of the year, Natural Grocers hopes to unveil around 30 more store brand products, said Amy Brophy, the company’s associate marketing manager.
The specialty grocer plans to venture deeper into the body care space and expand its frozen offerings, Valerie Nicklow, Natural Grocers’ private label manager, added.
Natural Grocers’ private label offerings reinforce the company’s focus on supporting small farmers and businesses, environmental stewardship and health guarantees like hormone- and antibiotic-free and non-GMO. But because these standards are already a well-known cornerstone of Natural Grocers’ business, the specialty grocer has also found more creative ways to connect with customers.
Along with major investments in its private label business in 2018, the grocer introduced animal characters to serve as mascots for each store brand item launched. These characters aim to educate consumers on individual private label products, Nicklow said.
For example, Bruce the Bunny is the official face of Natural Grocers’ line of frozen vegetables. Featured on the packaging of all the products — from cauliflower to chopped spinach — Bruce aims to give a face and backstory to each product.
When Natural Grocers adds new products to its private label assortment, it makes the most of these characters. Three-dimensional shelf displays and other in-store signage featuring characters like Bruce the Bunny; Lydia the Llama, the ambassador for the grocer’s coffee pods; Bella, a butterfly and face of Natural Grocers’ Epsom salts assortment; and Harry the Husky, the mascot of the grocer’s dog treat line.
The grocer also plans to ramp up its social media efforts to better highlight its private label moves, Brophy said. Currently, Natural Grocers is playing around with new video concepts that will appear on various social media platforms.
The company’s “Meet Your Farmer” film series, meanwhile, showcases the backstory behind the products Natural Grocers sells — including its private label lines. Brophy added that more store brand-edition “Meet Your Farmer” content will roll out in 2025.
The grocer’s most recent edition of the film series is entitled “From the Soil Up” and tells the “inspiring story” of Natural Grocers’ store brand organic cheese. The 11-minute video introduces viewers to Cody and Thomas N., a married couple running a small family dairy farm based in Humboldt County, California, who supply several Natural Grocers cheese products.
As grocers throughout the U.S. put more resources behind their private label strategies, Natural Grocers’ approach showcases how it’s possible to not just expand offerings but add some personality to them as well.
