Natural Grocers Honored By UNFI
Natural Grocers was recently honored with the Circle of Excellence award from UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.) during its Circle of Excellence ceremony held recently in San Diego.
The event honors businesses for exceptional achievements in performance, community impact, and strong partnership with UNFI in 2023. The grocer received the Customer of the Year Award, which recognizes industry-leading results across performance, impact, and partnership with UNFI. The award winners embody the highest standards of achievement in the eyes of North America's premier grocery wholesaler.
"Congratulations to Natural Grocers on this well-deserved recognition," said Sandy Douglas, CEO of UNFI. "We are grateful to be a part of your support team, and we look forward to continuing to help drive your success through the product assortment, quality, reliable execution and increased efficiency our partnership strives to provide."
With 168 stores across 21 states, Natural Grocers received the National Customer of the Year for the West, for exceptional sales growth, a strong commitment to community and sustainability, and making a positive impact in the industry.
"We are honored to have received this award from UNFI. It embodies our commitment to our partners, our communities and the regenerative farming practices that bring a more hopeful future for our planet,” said Jesse Nesbitt, senior director of Purchasing Systems for Natural Grocers. Regenerative farming practices improve soil health, water quality, biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. In 2023 Natural Grocers became the first national grocery retailer to offer two private-label Certified Regenerative and Certified Organic eggs. In addition to Regenerative and Organic certifications, our eggs are also American Humane Certified.”
Nesbitt noted that Natural Grocers continues to update its standard to provide its customers high quality natural and organic products at affordable prices.
“As we continuously update these standards, UNFI has demonstrated that they are willing to join us,” he said. “The successful launch of our regenerative private label eggs is just one example. UNFI supported the delivery of these products as promised. This enabled us to grow customer loyalty and category sales. We are proud to accept this award from such a dedicated partner."
