What Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. told the SEC could break it.

The company relies on foreign suppliers for certain products and is exposed to U.S. tariffs on China/Mexico/Canada imports and retaliatory measures, which could raise costs.

“We rely on foreign suppliers to source certain of the products that we sell. The United States has recently imposed, or proposed, tariffs on a broad range of foreign-sourced products and materials including tariffs on products imported from China, Mexico and Canada.”

The business model depends on the availability of USDA-certified-organic products; loss of NOP certifications across its supply base would reduce the organic products it can sell.

“The loss of any certifications could reduce the availability of organic products that we can sell in our stores and harm our business.”

UNFI is Natural Grocers' single largest third-party supplier at ~69% of products; a disruption to UNFI or that relationship would materially impair the company's ability to stock its stores.

“Disruptions affecting our significant suppliers, or our relationships with such suppliers, could negatively affect our business. UNFI is our single largest third-party supplier, accounting for approximately 69%”

Of 169 stores in 21 states, the largest cluster (45) is in Colorado, and the company operates a single 150,000 sq ft bulk-repackaging and distribution center in Golden, Colorado — concentrating both retail and logistics in one state.

“We lease a 150,000 square foot bulk food repackaging facility and distribution center located in Golden, Colorado.”