Worth aplenty: The measure of natural grows as industry changes
There’s no doubting the value of natural today. Pioneering retailers set out to prove this decades ago. For years, in relative silence, they built great community hubs of health and healing. And around them an industry grew. The swell in the last decade alone fed a wave of growth and change that proves this value as natural retail now reaches $166 billion and continues to grow faster than conventional. That’s part of the proof, apparent as conventional groceries grabbed onto natural and now represent 44.5% of the industry, according to our most recent Natural Foods Merchandiser Market Overview. Natural sales tipped to happening more in grocery aisles than health food stores in 2014.

2020 Market Overview: Business investments and shifting landscapes steadied independent natural retail 
After a tumultuous decade characterized by fierce competition and narrowing margins, independents rose to the challenge and settled into a healthy rhythm in 2019, holding on to modest year-over-year sales gains and winning back customers from struggling soon-to-be shuttered chains.