Pat Sheridan, President and CEO
It has been just over a year since the INFRA Board launched our 2028 vision statement, marking a pivotal moment in defining INFRA’s future. When I joined the INFRA team in 2018, I set out to explore the full scope of our growth potential. It quickly became clear that the opportunity to extend INFRA's purchasing power to more stores was expansive if we broadened our reach to include a wider variety of like-minded retailers. With this expansion, new needs and expectations naturally emerged, and 2024 was a year of rising to the challenge and evolving to meet these needs.
As INFRA moves through strategic growth and into transformational growth, our vision will remain our guiding compass. We set an ambitious goal: by 2028, INFRA aims to support member stores in 1,000 communities, be recognized as a leader in the natural foods industry, and serve as a model for independent business success. Achieving these objectives requires us to foster meaningful peer connections among our member-owners, leverage our collective voice to lower member costs & enhance promotional offerings, and embrace inclusive policies, initiatives, and tools to grow our membership, as well as our member stores.
I'm proud to share that just one year into this renewed vision, we’ve already made significant strides toward these goals. Last year our INFRA community surpassed $3 Billion in annual natural food and wellness sales and INFRA members united outperformed the entire Natural Channel in both sales dollars and unit growth. We also successfully rolled out the switch to a semimonthly INFRA Deals ad cycle—an intentional shift designed to help our members stay competitive in an evolving grocery landscape by driving customer visits, strengthening customer loyalty, and increasing your bottom lines. Throughout this transition, our dedicated INFRA team provided valuable resources and personalized support to help members navigate the changes. We stay prepared and committed to support you all through these first months and beyond.
As we approach the two-year milestone of the INFRA Everyday EDLP Program, we have deepened our partnership with KeHE to enhance the CADIA product offerings and expand the market reach of this member-exclusive initiative. These efforts are part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening our purchasing programs, ensuring that our members continue to be in business now, and 10 years from now.
Looking ahead, we remain steadfast in our commitment to supporting independent retailers and driving meaningful growth across our membership. Every initiative we undertake, from enhancing purchasing programs to fostering community connections, is rooted in our vision of empowering stores to thrive in an ever-changing industry.
As we continue on the road toward 1,000 communities, I am confident that by staying aligned with our values and goals, we will achieve remarkable success and create a lasting impact for our members, their communities, and the natural foods industry. Thank you for joining us on this journey.