Health and wellness remain significant drivers for grocery shoppers, according to research firm Placer.ai. New research looked at how two chains, Sprouts Farmers Market and Natural Grocers, are performing, with both planning further expansions in 2025.

Arizona-based chain Sprouts Farmers Market added some 33 new locations over the past year, leading to a major surge in overall visits to the chain, wrote Placer.ai. “In Q1 2025, visits to the grocer were 11.9% higher than they were in Q1 2024, with the average number of visits to each Sprouts location also increasing 4.2% year over year. In contrast, visits to the wider grocery space rose just 0.8% year over year.”

Colorado-based Natural Grocers saw Q1 2025 visits up 5.9% year over year. Placer.ai reported that though Natural Grocers’ expansion “has been slower than Sprouts', it too is gradually growing its store count—and its consistent over-performance shows that its offerings are meeting robust demand.”

Research found that both Sprouts and Natural Grocers attract “relatively affluent” visitor bases: In Q1 2025, visitors to Sprouts came from areas with a median household income of $96,800, considerably above the category average of $81,800. Natural Grocers, meanwhile, drew visitors with a median household income of $84,000—lower than that of Sprouts, but still higher than the wider segment.

Beyond demographics, each chain occupies a distinct geographic niche. In Q1 2025, 49.3% of visitors to Sprouts came from the “Suburban Periphery”—defined by the Esri: Tapestry Segmentation dataset as commuter-oriented suburbs with access to major cities and their amenities. Natural Grocers, meanwhile, drew just 39.9% from these areas, just slightly above the sector-wide average.

NACS discussed how the alternative snacks category delivers the options consumers crave in the February 2024 issue of NACS Magazine: “A Better For You Alternative.”