Natural retailer attracts holiday shoppers with unique, seasonal recipe inspiration

Family-operated Natural Grocers is ready for another busy holiday season. The chain stocks only organic produce and has some of the toughest CPG ingredient standards in the business, both of which attract consumers who deeply care about what they eat—as do most shoppers who purchase natural and organic foods.

Similar to years past, the company predicts high demand for purple sweet potatoes, bulk dried fruit, frozen fruit pies, and, of course, the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner staples. The ways Natural Grocers markets and merchandises its organic produce accounts for a good part of the products’ popularity. In the spirit of the holidays, fellow natural retailers can generate excitement and brand loyalty with these inspiring, popular offerings.

Develop a ‘unique,’ recurring dessert that generate repeat business

Every year, with fall underway and winter approaching, consumers rush to find Natural Grocers’ recipe for purple sweet potato pie. The pie has remained a hit ever since the idea first emerged from the chain’s nutritionists and merchandisers—inspiration for any retailer looking to garner consumer interest. One way is to put a twist on the familiar, as Natural Grocers has done with this pie: The purple delivers an “outlandish” and “interesting” aspect to traditional sweet potato pie, says Katie Macarelli, director of public relations for Natural Grocers, due to its color and texture.

“It’s just unique”—and tasty, she says.

Add an unexpected culinary take on holiday decorations

After picking up some purple sweet potatoes and the attendant ingredients, there’s more for shoppers to consider: a charcuterie-like wreath, arranged on a board to resemble the holiday decoration, that features fresh and dried fruits, cheeses, dessert pretzels and more. Natural Grocers began this tradition in 2022.

“You've got grapes, cheese down at the bottom, the crystallized ginger, our chocolate-covered pretzels, yogurt-covered pretzels, our jams, nuts, cranberries mixed in with the oranges, and our fresh peppers, canned peppers and apples,” Macarelli says. Natural Grocers’ experts come up with a new take on the wreath each holiday season, test it and estimate its cost.

“That’s something that we have a lot of fun with,” Macarelli adds. “Most grocery stores have recipes and things like that. But I would say ours is unique just because they come from our nutritional education department. They are tested by some of the folks in our nutritional ed department, who are certified chefs and have been professional chefs. So, it's just so fun to see what comes about and [it] is just gorgeous.”

The wreaths are, of course, customizable according to any allergy or dietary preferences, since the buyer ultimately chooses the ingredients and assembles it. But Natural Grocers benefits from loyalty customers’ recognition; social media posts speak for themselves and lend the chain free word-of-mouth marketing.

Help shoppers think fresh without doing too much more work

In terms of trends for other holiday treats, Natural Grocers this year sees an emphasis on crystallized ginger, fresh dates and nuts, which can go into one of the company’s recipe’s for “power bites.” In essence, customers are looking to Natural Grocers’ ingredients lists and bulk foods to create fresh takes on items they could buy already packaged.

“Those are kind of like our own Larabars, date bites that are refrigerated,” Macarelli says.

Focus on the expected: standard holiday fare, presentation, convenience

To be sure, when it comes to promoting fresh and organic fare for the winter holidays, Natural Grocers does not overlook the standard ingredients and products. This year, as always, the Colorado-based retailer expects to sell plenty of russet potatoes, yellow onions, garnet and jewel yams, celery, loose carrots, fresh cranberries, cherries, apples, fresh and frozen squash, and canned and fresh pumpkin. It even promotes a “Thanksgiving Sides Meal Deal” package for those items, an ideal way to attract more buyers.

“This will provide our customers with our always-affordable pricing on staple produce items regularly used in their favorite Thanksgiving dishes,” says Matt Fowler, category manager of produce.

Even during the hustle and bustle, Macarelli notices that customers are more focused about making sure the holiday foods they’re preparing provide the right look. Natural Grocers’ marketing and merchandising groups are tuned into that desire, as showcased by the photos just within the company’s online Thanksgiving recipe finder.

Alongside all that, buyers also want convenience. After all, most have only so much time. To that point, Macarelli has been hearing a lot of buzz around pre-made pie crusts. Her colleague, Missy Davis-Hood, category manager of frozen/refrigerated, says the chain is placing various brands of organic frozen fruits “next to the pie shells in our freezer sets to help make it convenient for our shoppers to make their own holiday pies.”

For customers who don’t have the time or desire to craft pies from scratch, Natural Grocers also offers Willamette Valley Pie Co. products in 80% of its approximately 170 stores. Willamette Valley Pie Co. sources the fruit for its desserts from area growers, bringing a high-end touch to the store-bought pie that other retailers might do well to emulate. Indeed, Davis-Hood says Natural Grocers and Willamette Valley are working to offer the latter’s pies in all stores next year.