Chris Lennert

Sprouts’ 2025 Momentum: $8.8B Sales, Strong Cash Flow, and a Leadership Refresh Key Points • Full-Year Growth: Sprouts Farmers Market reported 2025 net sales of $8.8B, up 14% year over year, with comparable-store sales up 7.3%. • Profitability Improvement: Diluted EPS rose to $5.31 in 2025 from $3.75 in 2024. • Store Expansion: Sprouts opened 37 stores in 2025, ending the year with 477 stores across 24 states. • Liquidity and Capital Returns: Sprouts ended 2025 with $257M in cash, zero balance on its $600M revolver, generated $716M in operating cash flow, and repurchased 4.0M shares for $472M while authorizing a new $1B buyback program. • 2026 Outlook Signals Near-Term Pressure: On a 52-week basis, Sprouts guided to comp sales of -1% to +1% for full-year 2026, with Q1 comps expected at -3% to -1%. • 2 Executive Appointments: Don Clark was appointed chief merchandising officer (with Scott Neal retiring), and Sprouts created a chief customer officer role filled by Amanda “Mandy” Rassi; both will report to President and COO Nick Konat. What It Means ✅ Strong Execution, Even as Comparisons Get Tougher: A 14% sales lift and 7.3% comps show Sprouts is winning with its core health-forward customer, but the 2026 guide suggests the company expects demand normalization and harder laps ahead. ✅ Cash Flow Creates Strategic Flexibility: With meaningful operating cash flow, cash on hand, and no revolver balance, Sprouts can keep investing in new stores and price/value while returning capital to shareholders. ✅ Merchandising and Customer Capabilities Are Being Elevated: Adding a new chief customer officer role and bringing in an experienced merchandising leader signals a push to tighten differentiation, loyalty/personalization, and cross-channel execution as growth moderates. ✅ Buybacks Reinforce Confidence, but Fundamentals Still Matter: A $1B authorization is a notable vote of confidence, yet the softer Q1 comp outlook puts added importance on traffic-driving innovation, price perception, and retention. Progressive Grocer | https://lnkd.in/gHK5VCCd #retail #supermarkets

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What if we spent more time building on the strengths that help each of us be at our best? I had the honour of joining Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup, for a conversation in the Leading With Strengths series. It was a meaningful opportunity to reflect on leadership, not as something defined by having all the answers, but by creating the conditions for others to contribute at their best. Leading teams across Asia, Oceania and Africa is a daily reminder of the strength that comes from diversity, of cultures, perspectives, experiences, and talents. In a region of extraordinary breadth and opportunity, I have learned that inclusion must be intentional. It means listening deeply, building trust from the start, and ensuring that the voice with the right expertise is heard, wherever it sits in the organization. One thought from the conversation has stayed with me: the strongest teams are often stronger than any one leader. That is not a weakness of leadership; it is the purpose of leadership. When people feel trusted, respected and empowered to speak up, even to disagree , we make better decisions and deliver more meaningful impact together. I am grateful to Jon and the Gallup team for the thoughtful conversation, and to the colleagues across Nestlé who continue to bring their strengths, courage and commitment to work every day. When we support others to succeed, we often grow in ways we did not expect. I invite you to watch the conversation and reflect on a simple question: how can we become more intentional in using what we do best to help our teams grow stronger?

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Lead in vape carts is still a risk. Jeff Rawson, Chair of the Institute of Cannabis Science, explains how leaded hardware can leach into oil and why screening matters. The fixes are simple. Screen hardware before it reaches shelves. Pull suspect lots. Tell customers what to do next. Keep clean records so teams can move fast. This is not a niche issue. It is a public health issue. How are you screening hardware today? 🚨 New episode this Friday, 11am EST on High Functioning Podcast. 👇 Links to RSVP and more are in the comments.

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February beer data just dropped and it tells an interesting story. Dollar sales are up 1.6% year-to-date, but volume is basically flat. What’s working? Imports. Super-premium domestic. Hard cider. Non-alcoholic beer. What’s struggling? A lot of craft and domestic premium. The takeaway isn’t that people stopped drinking beer. It’s that consumers got selective. The brands winning right now have three things: • Velocity • A clear point of view • Absolute clarity on who they’re for If you’re trying to be everything to everyone… the shelf is going to humble you. Truthfully, Sam #beverageindustry #beerbusiness #cpg #drinkup #brandstrategy

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The U.S. wine category is shrinking. Bonanza Cabernet keeps growing anyway. That's worth looking at if you're in any business where the category is moving against you. U.S. wine sales fell roughly 6% in 2024 (SipSource). Wine Intelligence (acquired by IWSR) forecasts volume dropping at -2% CAGR through 2027, faster than the -1% pace from 2017 to 2022. Regular wine drinkers aged 21-34 fell from 29% of the base to 23% between 2019 and 2023. The board decks all have the same sad category chart right now. And then a $20 Cabernet from the Caymus Vineyards family just keeps taking share. According to Impact Databank, Bonanza launched at 131,000 cases in the U.S. in 2020 and has added 60,000 to 80,000 cases every year since. Double-digit volume growth. The category was falling the whole time. We dug into how. Four things stood out. 1. They priced against the occasion, not the shelf position. Bonanza lives where a weeknight steak dinner lives. Around $20. The slot was crowded but no one held it with real winemaking credibility behind them. Silicon Valley Bank's 2025 State of the Wine Industry report found the top quartile of premium wineries grew revenue 22% in 2024. The value-with-credibility window is open. Has been for a while. 2. They borrowed trust rather than building it cold. Chuck Wagner's name is on it. Decades of Caymus equity, spent carefully on a value tier without pulling the flagship down with it. That's genuinely hard to do. Heritage brands tend to hoard the halo or blow it. Bonanza did neither. 3. They dropped the rules the buyer never cared about. No vintage on the label. No single appellation. They blend across California lots to hit a consistent taste profile every time. Wine people were unhappy about this. Buyers at Costco Wholesale and Total Wine & More were not. The person grabbing a bottle on a Tuesday just wanted it to taste the same as last time. Bonanza built for that person. The consistency thing is probably the most transferable idea here for anyone building a consumer brand outside wine. 4. Supply structure did the real work. Multi-region sourcing means they buy fruit where the value sits each year. Cost structure moves with the market. A Napa-only brand at that price can't follow. The wine world sells vintage variation as romance. The grocery shopper reads it as inconsistency. Bonanza picked a side and moved on. A declining category and a growing brand at the same time. It's not rare, actually. For any team staring at a flat or shrinking market: the category number is an average. Find the occasion that wasn't priced for. Use trust you already have. Ignore the rules your customer never knew existed. What brand in your category is pulling this off? Drop it below. If this is useful, follow me on LinkedIn. We do this regularly across growth, transformation, and value creation. #WineIndustry #BrandGrowth #MarketStrategy #ConsumerInsights

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