2025 Natural Grocers Sustainability Report

PLANET

HEALTH

QUALITY

COMMUNITY

NUTRITION EDUCATION

CREW

ALWAYS AFFORDABLE SM PRICING

ANIMAL WELFARE

PEOPLE

Things We Won’t Carry and Why

Our philosophy since our company’s founding is that food should be real, nourishing, and taste good. Quality matters for human health, economic health, and the planet’s health. At Natural Grocers, quality is measured as much by what we don’t sell as by what we do. Since 1990, we have maintained a growing list of ingredients which we won’t sell in our stores and the reasons why. Our Quality Standards Team stays abreast of the latest research to evaluate product issues and concerns, and reviews specific ingredients, resulting in ongoing modifications to this list. We ultimately ask: does this ingredient being added to food support human health? As our commitment to quality remains constant, our list of Things We Won’t Carry and Why is always growing. We believe that our commitment to carrying carefully vetted products that prioritize nutritional health has differentiated us from our peers and established our thought leadership within the grocery industry. For example, there are many ingredients that have long been prohibited by our standards, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only recently addressed over safety concerns. 1 Examples include, but are not limited to: synthetic colors, bromated vegetable oil, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. As of October 2025, our list of Things We Won’t Carry and Why comprised more than 500 ingredients. OUR GMO POLICY Our philosophy is that food should undergo as few modifications as possible. To this end, since 2013, we have sought to avoid sourcing new items with ingredients at high risk of originating from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). If a proposed new product includes high-risk ingredients, they must be organic or verified as non-GMO; if a supplier cannot provide confirmation, we will not carry the product. Our GMO Policy in Action: • We prioritize organic whenever possible, and organic is naturally non-GMO • Our produce is 100% certified organic, and therefore non-GMO • Our bulk department offering is 100% non-GMO, with 70% organic selections • More than 65% of all products we sold were non-GMO OUR PALM OIL POLICY The production of this extensively used ingredient has significant social and environmental impacts. Consequently, we seek to influence the supply chain at the farm and production levels through our transparent sourcing policies. We accept all certified organic single-ingredient palm oil For products that are not certified organic, we accept Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Certified under the following circumstances: We accept RSPO Segregated and Identity Preserved palm oil, which is kept separate from conventional palm oil throughout the supply chain and is certified sustainable We do not accept RSPO Mass Balanced or Book & Claim palm oil because up to 90% of the batch can come from conventional sources. We want to incentivize the shift to responsible palm oils, so we choose RSPO levels that are above this minimum standard and avoid co-mingling. We also accept Palm Done Right certified palm oil, which comprehensively monitors social, wildlife, and environmental impacts through third-party certifications and ensures responsible sourcing throughout the supply chain We also accept palm oil that is otherwise third-party verified as environmentally responsible, deforestation-free, wildlife friendly, and socially responsible Federal Appeals Court Sides With Natural Grocers in GMO Labeling Case, Resulting in Clearer, More Transparent Labeling – see page 37 for more information

1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2025, January 15). List of select chemicals in the food supply under FDA review. FDA. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-chemical-safety/list-select-chemicals-food-supply-under-fda-review

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NATURAL GROCERS ® | SUSTAINABILITY REPORT