When I first discovered that we would soon be having an off brand Trader Joe’s in Jeff City, MO I literally almost crashed my car into a guard rail. I absolutely LOVE the ~health~ section of Hyvee, and sometimes I just like to wander around its beautiful, colorful, healthy, expensive aisles. However, the ~health~ section of Hyvee is somewhat limited, and I can only gaze around for about 10 min, before I run out of ~healthy~ items to look at. So when I heard that there was an all organic, more expensive, more superior ~healthy~ store coming to JC, I was beyond excited. Today we will see if Natural Grocers can hold up against the well loved, (by me) Hyvee ~health~ section.

At first look: The Website

https://www.naturalgrocers.com/

Through the Natural Grocer’s website, you can select a store and city that you would like to view specific products at. For example, Columbia, MO has a specific store link that you can look at, that will show what specifically is in stock at the Natural Grocers in Columbia. However, our Jefferson City website just shows that the store is close to opening, and doesn’t show what we can specifically see at our store just yet.

The Natural Grocers website that isn’t used for a specific store or location, is very bright and colorful, and is everything that I am looking for in a more upscale grocery store website. You first open the page, and immediately see bright colors, and an easy drop down bar that provides quick access to products you might need. As you scroll down the page, Natural Grocers shares about their story, their standards, and the jobs they provide. Next to their informational boxes, they even have a video link which shares people who thank Natural Grocers for all that they do. If you visit the “Our Careers” box next to the video, there are hundreds of jobs listed that you can apply for. Not only are there lots of jobs that are offered for multiple locations, but you make $BANK for working at the grocery store. For example, a head cashier makes $13.50 an hour. I might just have to swing by and ask for an application if I’m making that amount of money. There are tons of recipes that the website includes, which I think is so unique and a great addition to hooking you into wanting to buy more of their products. I enjoy that the recipes include pictures, ingredients, and well explained step-by steps on how to make a certain meal. I overall enjoy the whole website, and it was obviously well thought out and produced by the company.

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The Jefferson City Location 

Most of my friends are people who are like me, and like to aimlessly look at Kombucha and different types of fruit. Okay, so those “friends” are just me and my friend Lily. (@lily.delk on insta, you’re welcome for the promo, Lil). However, our expectations are very high, and were very high going into the Jeff City location. Although I didn’t go with Lily to the location, I still had loads of fun looking at what there was to offer.

I went with my best friend Alahna, and I think she was just as excited as I was. As you walk into the store, it’s like walking into heaven itself. It’s obviously very clean, and there are huge rows and rows of grocery products. The fruit and vegetables look absolutely beautiful, and are so colorful and don’t look like someone sat on them while they were being transported.

The first thing that caught my eye was the huge fridges of different brands of Kombucha. At Walmart, there are only about 3 brands offered, and at Natural Grocers it seemed like there were 35 different flavors. Another thing that really made me love the store even more, was that Natural Grocers offered so many vegan alternatives! There were many different kinds of vegan substitutes for meat, ice cream, and milks. I have multiple people in my life who are vegan and it often sounds like they eat the same things over and over again, and in my opinion, having a store in Jefferson City with hundreds of vegan options is so wonderful. Natural Grocers has everything you could think of and more. Their beauty section is huge compared to Hyvee, and all of their products are mainly vegan or cruelty free. As most of my friends know, I’m a little ~essential oils girl~. I love anything I can put in my diffuser, but at Walmart there’s not a lot of a selection and they are still expensive. At Natural Grocers, they have HUNDREDS of essential oils and they even offer diffusers. They also offer incense and incense holders. My mom personally won’t let me buy any because she thinks I will burn the house down, but don’t worry Natural Grocers, I’ll buy some from you and just not tell her. 🙂

Natural Grocers also sells Hydroflasks, which is different for a grocery store! Normally you can only find Hydroflasks when you go to Dick’s or Dunham’s, so when a local grocery store sells them, it’s a very big deal (at least to me). Natural Grocers even has their OWN Hydroflask, that is a sleek black with their logo on it. Do I already have a Hydroflask? Yes. Will I spend half my paycheck on one that has their logo? Yes. Some people could make the argument, that everything at Natural Grocers is 2 times the price of anything at Hyvee, which is somewhat buujee compared to Walmart. However, I personally feel so much better spending money on something that came from a clean, mostly vegan and cruelty free store that supports lots of different dietary needs for people.

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In my opinion, Natural Grocers is a hit in my heart. Not only do they have everything from oat milk, to essential oils, their store meets lots of needs for people that have dietary restrictions, such as peanut allergies, gluten intolerance, or they are vegan/vegetarian. I love Natural Grocers because they seem to really care about people’s more special dietary needs, while also trying to make eating more ‘clean’ fun. Go Natural Grocers!