Where are you seeing momentum—and where are you feeling pressure? Independent natural products retailers address these topics and more in WholeFoods Magazine’s 2026 Annual Retailer Survey, now in its 48th year. Designed to go beyond the data, this survey helps industry members better understand the realities of independent retail today. Hear directly from retailers in our Retailers Sound Off section, then explore the detailed findings across these pages.
Once again, we partnered with Readex Research to survey independent natural and organic retailers, capturing results from the 12 months ending in June 2025. To every retailer who took part, thank you for supporting this important educational initiative. The survey serves as a benchmarking tool for retailers seeking to measure and improve performance, and as a vital resource for industry partners across the supply chain who want to better understand—and better support—independent retail. Your participation helps us deliver what we believe is the most accurate snapshot of the U.S. independent natural products retail landscape.
As you read, it’s helpful to keep one key methodological point in mind. Think of this survey as sampling a glass of vintage cabernet sauvignon. Each year, we taste from a different vineyard—the unique group of retailers who respond in a given year. At the same time, this year’s respondents also reflect on their own prior-year performance, allowing us to compare two vintages from the same vineyard. This approach produces our same-store results. Also note that, when we cite overall survey averages and percentages, they are dollar-weighted across all responses.
At its core, the survey answers a fundamental question: What was the bottom line for independent retailers? Did they perform better—or worse—over the 12-month period ending June 2025? These pages explore that outcome and the broader implications behind it.
Taking a wider view: Sales from all U.S. independent natural retailers hit $13.2 billion in 2025. Expanding beyond independents, total natural organic sales across eight retail and food-store channels (including supernaturals such as Whole Foods Market; conventional supermarkets; mass merchandisers; pharmacies; and vitamin chain stores) was $115.8 billion (see below). For a comprehensive update of the U.S. natural organic retail market, see the Retail Insights® 2026 Retail Universe for U.S. Premium Natural, Organic Food, Supplement & Personal Care Sales.
Now, let’s dive into the detailed findings—insights designed to help you see how your store compares within the independent landscape and uncover opportunities to strengthen your business in the years ahead.
As in prior years, the majority of respondents to this survey are owners/CEOs/presidents, at 63%. An additional 17% are general managers or store managers, and the remaining 20% of respondents are department buyers, chief financial officers, or other store administrators.
With a pattern we began to notice last year, longtime stores are beginning to change hands at a faster rate. This lowers the average years new owners have held their stores to 26.1 years, down from 30 years, and raises the average age of the remaining stores to 36.3 years, from 31 years in last year’s survey. And though a minority, 30% of respondents own their properties, which is a relatively high ownership percentage. This reflects the benefits of those long-time operations (the 36.3 year average). It is rare today for a new independent natural products retailer to be able to afford owning its property.
Respondent fast facts:
65% of respondents are natural products or health foods stores.
9% are natural practitioners/doctors carrying natural products inventory.
7% are supermarkets carrying significant assortments of natural and organic products.
7% are other retailers (such as gourmet, restaurant, bakery, personal care and pet stores).
6% are natural products coops.
4% are herb retailers.
2% are drug stores/natural pharmacies.
80% of respondents operate 1 store; 10% operate 2 stores; 4% operate 3 to 4 stores; 6% operate 7 or more stores.
70% rent their space; 30% own the real estate.
All regions of the country were represented in the survey, with 25% of respondents hailing from the Midwest and 26% from the South/Southeast. Nearly one in five (18%) operated stores in the Mid-Atlantic, another 18% came from the Southwest/West, 10% had stores in New England, and 4% came from the Mountain West/Northwest (see Figure 1).
Survey respondents represent every size market (see below), which gives us an in-depth picture of the overall industry.
33% Large town or rural area (population less than 50,000)
20% Major metropolitan area (population 1,000,000+)
17% Medium city or suburb (population 100,000 – 299,999)
15% Small city (population 50,000 – 99,999)
15% Large city or suburb (population 300,000 – 999,999)
Part 2: What were independents’ results this year, and compared to last?
How to Use This Survey
Because store types in the survey vary widely, from small supplement-focused shops to supermarket-sized fresh perishables supernaturals, the overall survey averages, which are dollar-weighted, won’t help you understand the distinct characteristics of the particular type of store you operate. A 1,000-square-foot vitamin store with three months of inventory on hand works nothing like an 11,000-square-foot grocer moving vegetables in and out weekly. To get a true picture, look to the groups.
Independent natural products retailers can compare their results to stores in this survey that are most like their own by looking at their perishables as a percentage of total sales. That number places a store in one of the survey’s five groups, ranging from about 1% perishables in Group 5 to at least 45% perishables in Group 1. By comparing results to peers with similar perishables sales, retailers will uncover the results that are most relevant to their store. Which group are you? Find out in three steps:
Step 1: Tally up your sales from four main perishable fresh-foods departments: refrigerated, frozen, produce, and prepared foods.
Step 2: Calculate what percentage of your total sales these four categories represent.
Step 3: Compare your results to similar stores in your corresponding Group—either Group 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (see Figure 2).
The four categories we track as perishables include refrigerated groceries, fresh produce, prepared foods, and frozen foods. Leading the perishables pack this year was the refrigerated grocery category, which made up 17.32% of total survey sales. Fresh produce followed, at 10.86% of overall survey sales. Prepared foods were just under 8%, and frozen foods 5.26%.
Combined, perishables accounted for 41.4% of average sales overall, which is $698,368 of the survey average of $1,686,769 (see Figure 4, and for more on perishables as a percentage of sales, see expanded coverage on WholeFoodsMagazine.com.)
Taking a detailed look at percentage of sales by department, vitamins and supplements accounted for the next-largest portion of sales after perishables, at 21.79% overall average per store. Packaged dry grocery clocked in at 20.85% of sales, with non-foods and personal care bringing in 6.17% and 5.04%, respectively. Bulk foods registered 4.74% of sales on average, overall.
Our smallest supplement-focused stores in Group 5 bolstered their sales by specializing in bulk foods and non-foods/household goods, which accounted for 21.13% and 18.2% of sales on average, respectively. Stores in Group 5 had the highest percentage of sales from personal care, at 16.93%.
It was stores in Group 4 that achieved the highest sales percentage from supplements and vitamins: 73.82%.
Annual sales across all five Groups averaged $1.69 million, and ranged from $275,930 in Group 5, our small supplement-focused stores, to $7.4 million in Group 1, our high-perishables stores. Perishables sales ranged from just over 1% in Group 5 to 54.26% in Group 1, and averaged 41.4% for the survey overall (see Figure 3). For the survey overall, sales grew 6.1% year over year, suggesting independent natural retailers remain relevant to shoppers across the country despite heavy competition.
Stores in Groups 1 and 2 carried the most perishables, averaging 54.26% and 36.72%, respectively. These stores saw the greatest annual growth, increasing 7.89% and 8.69%.
Our smallest, supplement-focused stores in Group 5 turned in a respectable 3.48% sales increase year over year. Stores in Group 5 did offer a limited menu of prepared foods, mostly soups, coffee, tea, and baked goods, amounting to 1.02% in perishables sales.
Stores in Group 4, which averaged 5.17% in sales from perishables, grew just 0.36% for the year. And sales for stores in Group 3, which averaged 18% in sales from perishables, declined by about one-quarter percentage point, (-0.28).
First, the good news: Overall year-over-year growth for all survey respondents was a robust 6.1% increase.
Now, the tempering news: Nearly all growth (97.23% of total growth) came from high-perishables stores in Groups 1 and 2 that received at least 30% of their sales from fresh perishables. Respectively, stores in Groups 1 and 2 grew 7.89% and 8.69%, showing the continuing strength of a high-perishables assortment.
The sobering truth: Stores in Group 3, selling between 10% and 29% perishables, shrank by -0.28%. And stores in Group 4, selling between 1% and 9% perishables, grew less than a percentage point, 0.36%.
The silver lining: Stores in Group 5, focusing nearly exclusively on vitamins, supplements and personal care, grew 3.48% year-over-year.
Across all five perishables Groups 1 through 5, each product category overall grew year over year, from 1.39% for non-foods to 16.17% for prepared foods. Our highest-perishables stores, in Group 1, dominated the growth in prepared foods, increasing 17.8%.
Refrigerated groceries saw the second-highest growth rate overall, at 10%, followed by dry groceries at 6.47%, again with the concentration of growth in high-perishables stores in Groups 1 and 2.
Reversing the growth trends dominated by high-perishables stores, bulk foods saw a surprising jump in sales, growing 5.97% overall, with the largest percentage increases in Groups 4 and 5, our lowest-perishables stores. Frozen foods came in next, with 5.64%, then fresh produce, logging 3.69% growth overall, again dominated by high-perishables stores, particularly stores in Group 2.
Personal care, or HABA, gained a respectable 3.41% overall, again weighted towards the high-perishables stores in Groups 1 and 2.
Finally, vitamins and supplements gained 2.88% overall, with the smallest supplement stores in Group 5 gaining 2.43%. But once again, growth in the supplements category was dominated by high-perishables stores in Groups 1 and 2.
Annual sales per gross lease area (GLA) square foot averaged $492 for the survey overall, and $610 for the average retail sales-area square foot. Stores in Group 1 generated the highest sales, at $659 per GLA square foot, and $909 per retail square foot. Coming in second place were stores in Group 4, at $601 per GLA square foot, and $751 per retail square foot from its modest 1,736 square feet and 1,389 square feet, respectively. Group 4’s high vitamin sales, which accounted for 73.82% of revenue, boosted per-square-foot efficiency, and drove the highest survey average gross sales of $1.04 million; better than all but Group 1’s $7.4 million total sales.
Net profits for the survey overall ran 3.01%, with vitamin and supplement stores in Groups 4 and 5 enjoying the fattest profits, at 4.75% and 6.86%, respectively. Stores in Group 3, with 18% of sales from perishables, operating in 2,540 gross lease area (GLA) square feet, held onto 4.49% in net profits, but year-over-year sales shrank by -0.28%. Stores in Group 2, with 36.72% of sales from perishables, operating in 3,350 square feet, suffered from the lowest gross profit margins (GMP), 36.6%. Nevertheless, Group 2 stores grew nicely, adding 8.69% in sales year-over-year, which helped take the sting out of our survey’s smallest net profit of 1.72%. Our highest volume, highest perishables stores in Group 1, turned in the highest net profit dollars: $181,374 on $7.4 million in sales, from their 2.45% net profit percent.
As we’ve seen in prior surveys, as the percentage of perishables sales increases, so too do store sizes, customer counts, and transactions per day. Overall average transaction per customer was $36.77, and ranged from $49.26 in Group 1 to $28.64 in Group 5. Customer counts were lowest in our smallest supplement stores, at 29 customers per day, and highest in our largest fresh-food stores, at 419 customers per day.
Most of our survey respondents (59%) did not sell through e-commerce, while about one in five (18%) got less than 5% of their total sales online. Another 11% of respondents got between 10% and 29% of total sales online, and 3% told us that 50% to 74% of sales came from online transactions. For 5% of respondents, 75% to 99% of sales are online.
Part 3: How did retailers market and manage their business?
Once again, we see it is more costly to carry fresh foods than vitamins and supplements. Supplement-focused stores in Groups 4 and 5 had cost of goods (COGS) from 57% to 59%, while food stores in Groups 1, 2, and 3 paid up to 63.4% for inventory. The inverse gross profit margins also favored vitamin stores, ranging from 41% to almost 43%, but fell as low as 36.6% in Group 2 food stores.
Vitamin and supplement stores in Groups 4 and 5 had the slowest-turning inventories, about once every 80 days, with multi-year expiration dates encouraging stocking up. The highest-perishables stores in Group 1 turned inventories over rapidly, about every three weeks, or 23 days. Stores in Groups 2 and 3 with perishables sales averaging 36.72% and 18%, respectively, had trouble accelerating inventory turns. Their turns stayed in mid-single digits: 6.7 and 5.8 times annually, respectively.
It took between 1.13 and 1.37 35-hour-per-week full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) per 1,000 square feet to run stores in Groups 2, 3, and 5. Stores in Group 1, the highest perishables stores, took nearly three times as many, at 3.18 FTEs per 1,000 square feet. Group 4 had the highest-in-the-survey percentage of sales from vitamins and supplements, 73.82%. With their average $1.04 million in sales, they appeared to afford knowledgeable staff to pamper customers, with the survey high of 4.33 FTEs per 1,000 square feet.
It took just under 1 in 5 dollars (19.08%) to pay staff to run stores in this year’s survey. High-perishables stores in Group 1 paid the most for labor, at 20.21%. As noted, the million-dollar vitamin stores in Group 4 staffed their aisles generously, paying 19.86% for labor overall. We suspect the smallest vitamin stores in Group 5, at 875 GLA square feet, subsidized their 12.25% labor costs with unpaid owner hours. Overall average hourly compensation came in at $17.75, ranging from $15.15 in Group 4 to Group 1’s $23.05.
Per-square-foot costs were governed in part by ownership (30% of respondents own their property, which is a factor in lower rent) and in part by population density, whether rural or major metropolitan areas.
Group 5 stores are concentrated in the lowest population-density trade areas. Their $24.69 average annual rent per square foot per year suggests they pay a premium for their relatively small gross lease areas.
Over half (60%) of Group 4 stores, which averaged 1,736 GLA SF, are located in the highest population-density major metropolitan areas. This helps explain Group 4’s highest-in-the-survey average annual rent per square foot of $31.80.
Stores in Group 3 avoid the densest population trade areas, but have a presence in medium to large areas. We suspect Group 3, which averages 2,540 GLA SF, has some of the oldest stores in the survey, and at $18.90 per square foot, enjoys relatively favorable long-term leases compared to current market rates.
Stores in Group 2, averaging 3,350 GLA SF, are concentrated in small cities with populations up to 99,000. These stores also likely benefit from mature age and favorable long-term leases that keep rents below market.
Group 1, our 11,235-average GLA SF high-perishables stores, favor low-population areas. They appear to benefit from being big fish in small ponds, commanding anchor-tenant rates secured decades ago that are far below current market rates.
The next page features expanded online content including:
- GLA, Retail, and Support Area Square Feet
- Discussion of Perishables as a Percentage of Sales
- Outreach and Education Efforts
- Advertising/Promotion Strategies
- Merchandising Methods
- Private Label
- Past & Future Expansion Plans
- Store Closings
- Planned Store Openings
…and don’t miss your wider view of the industry in the Retail Insights® 2026 Retail Universe for U.S. Premium Natural, Organic Food, Supplement & Personal Care Sales.
