State College’s natural food store keeps focus on customers, mission. Here’s how

Taking a deep breath as I walk into Nature’s Pantry, I know exactly where I am. There is a unique aroma to a natural food store that blends the scents of herbs, flours, nuts, seeds, essential oils, teas, coffees, natural cosmetics, and natural cleaning products. It’s an aroma that captures the essential wholesome aspect of everything that is for sale. And maybe the aroma captures the air of determination and dedication that is tucked into every carefully aligned product on the rows of shelving stacked above shiny waxed floors.

After spending much of the last seven years elsewhere, mostly out west, chasing grandchildren, I have a deeper appreciation for the availability of natural foods. While in the Los Angeles area, there was Whole Foods and Erewhon, home of the $19 single strawberry from Japan. In Colorado, Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, and Sprouts were prominent. In Jackson, Wyoming, Whole Foods dominates.

These bougie markets have one thing in common — their prices are high. We have all heard the meme “Whole Foods, Whole Paycheck.”

But these stores differ from our hometown natural food store in several essential ways. They are not entirely dedicated to carrying products with no artificial colors, flavors or unnecessary additives. They are all supermarket chains with distribution goals that are determined in a corporate office. Their customers are as faceless as their buyers.

But that is not the case at Nature’s Pantry, where owner Michele Briggs typically staffs the register, greeting people as they enter the store. If Briggs is not at the cash register, she is likely in her office in the rear of the store, past the clothing from Nepal and African woven baskets, plotting the next series of specials that change every couple of weeks.

My first week back in town, I roamed through the store, amazed at the prices on many of the items. And these were not just items on sale. I asked Briggs how she managed to keep her prices low.

“I belong to a co-op that supports independent natural food stores, and I pass on the savings to the consumer,” she said.

INFRA, the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association, offers this mission statement on their website. “INFRA is a purchasing cooperative comprised of independent organic and natural food and wellness retailers serving hundreds of communities in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Through collective buying power, operational support, and innovative marketing programs, we help members’ businesses thrive in step with their values and communities, a fast-changing industry, and the planet we share.”

Nature’s Pantry has been involved with INFRA since the cooperative launched in 2005, growing out of a meeting in 2004 at Expo West that was attended by three natural food store owners in California and one in North Carolina. Briggs recalls being number 15 or 17 of the membership that has now grown to 350, and anticipates serving 1,000 communities by 2028. Membership in the organization gives you access to not just the buying power of a larger entity, but also support for marketing tips and conferences that help improve each individual store owner. Keeping abreast of marketing trends in our current fast-paced environment can be challenging, given the many new products introduced by various influencers.

For instance, Coconut Cult yogurt. Briggs explained that last fall, there was a huge demand for this particular non-dairy coconut yogurt due to a promotion on TikTok. “I couldn’t keep it on the shelves,” she said. “We were selling $5,000 a week worth of these yogurts that cost $12.79 for an 8-ounce jar. The first wave of shoppers was mostly students, and then eventually older folks got on the bandwagon.”

Briggs isn’t sure what the next hot item will be, but she says that plant-based foods are now trending. Non-dairy cheeses and milks, non-meat burgers, egg alternatives, and a wide variety of whole grains, nuts, and seeds can be the base of a healthier diet. But Briggs does not limit her inventory to vegan products. She does not carry much produce —“That’s what the farmers markets are for” — but she carries a full line of frozen local beef that comes from the family enterprise, Fetterolf Family Farms in Aaronsburg, which her husband, Dave Fetterolf, runs with the help of their son Andrew. Her son Ben helps out in the store, coming up with new marketing ideas from his own perspective that may not agree with hers, but that always pan out.

Also in the wings is her mother, Mary Briggs, the former tax collector for Potter Township, who comes in on the weekend to tidy up and review the books. Her father, Rodney, long an integral part of the store with his forays to Belleville to collect local eggs and butter from Amish farms, is sidelined on the farm these days, restricted by health issues.

The Nature’s Pantry brand has come a long way since it opened in Madera, Clearfield County, in 1992. After relocating to Tyrone and then to a site on North Atherton in 1998, Briggs opened a store on Benner Pike in 2005. However, the space was soon outgrown, and the company moved to a larger location on Commercial Boulevard, near the Nittany Mall, in 2010. The newly painted green exterior is not visible from the Benner Pike, but look for the Nature’s Pantry sign to know where to turn.

I was a little surprised to see the 2024 Best of State College Magazine’s listing of “Best Place to Buy Natural/Organic Food” and find Nature’s Pantry sandwiched between Wegmans and Trader Joe’s. Those two may have a smattering of natural/organic products in their inventory, but they pale next to the real deal. Don’t take my word for it. Step into Nature’s Pantry and take a deep breath.

Nature’s Pantry is located at 2331 Commercial Blvd., State College and can be reached at 814-861-5200. It’s open Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.