Natural Food Retailers Association

For three days, INFRA staff met for their annual retreat in Minneapolis. Our time together was spent reviewing work done in 2009, educating new staff, and planning for 2010. We also enjoyed team-building activities at the local bowling alley, where we discovered why Corinne is CEO. She bowled a turkey!

Over three days of meetings we reviewed the current state of each program, discussed and analyzed the Association’s growth in both membership and the services provided, and laid out our plan of attack for 2010. On the second day, each staff person was given a few minutes to expound on their future vision of the Association. Each of us had differing responses and ambitious goals.

Rates and goals of membership growth were often cited as one of the most significant aspects of each staff member’s vision. Some enthused over wanting to see membership numbers reach higher and higher until we are hundreds of voices strong.  Others noted that it is essential to maintain the intimacy we currently provide, and to grow both regional and local identity amongst members. There was also talk about shaping INFRA into an association that not only supports independents already in the industry, but also helps start-ups and encourages more retailers to enter the industry as independents, and educates and assists them through this process.

The other topic of discussion to which we all continued to return was INFRA’s voice and influence in the industry. There is a huge desire amongst staff to form ourselves into a group of retailers that command enough respect to be a force in protecting the integrity of the industry and the products and services we provide, e.g. protecting organic standards. We envisioned various standards that would help us gauge this success as we grow, such as seeing the SPC program become the primary promotional program in many member stores and an increase in the strength of our negotiated supply agreements.

Over all, as your advocates in the industry, our vision and dream for INFRA is to see this association recognized as a powerful name that supports independent retailers who wish to join together while maintaining diversity. We want to be on the forefront of new developments in the industry. We want to focuses on the bigger national picture so that you can focus on your individual communities and missions. The natural products industry was born and nurtured on independents and we still make up the majority of the industry today, it’s a simple matter of focusing our efforts and intentions.