IGA Coca-Cola Institute Expands Training On Natural Foods

The Retail Learning Institute (RLI) and IGA Coca-Cola Institute announced a partnership with LearnNatural to enrich the Institute’s online courses library with natural and organic food education tailored to independent food retailers worldwide.

RLI serves more than 15,000 of the leading retailers across the globe and offers over 600 industry-specific blended learning courses for onboarding, compliance, department operations training and more. They selected LearnNatural, a leader in natural products education, as an expert partner to offer retailers their new six-course series of online courses.

LearnNatural’s Around the Grocery Aisles courses are designed to educate grocer associates on natural food basics, trends, and terminology. The Institute has launched the initial six courses, three on Reading Food Labels, and three on Natural Speak. These courses dive into understanding the complex landscape of natural product labels, certifications, and buzz words that natural consumers need to understand today.

According to a report by Grand View Research, the global organic food market is projected to reach USD 320.5 billion by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.7% between 2019 and 2025. Similarly, a Nielsen study found the natural and organic products had penetrated 82% of U.S. households in 2020, indicating a widespread adoption of these products.

Retailers who want to tap into the growth of these categories now have the expert training to prepare frontline associates quickly and effectively. They will learn to comfortably engage with shoppers, deliver stellar customer service, grow brand loyalty, and ultimately improve sales of natural and organic products, capturing that growing segment.

The Around the Aisles course series is starting with the release of 6 courses:

1. Reading Food Labels 1: Front of the Food Package (6 min)
2. Reading Food Labels 2: Back of the Food Package (7 min)
3. Reading Food Labels 3: Label Information (6 min)
4. Natural Speak 1: Terms on the Farm (7 min)
5. Natural Speak 2: Terms for the Manufacturer (7 min)
6. Natural Speak 3: Terms on the Product Label (7 min)

“LearnNatural shares the Institute’s commitment and passion for using education as a critical tool to develop a confident, engaged, happy, and effective front line—leading to a healthy top and bottom line for the retailer,” said Doon Wintz, CEO of LearnNatural. “Our experience shows that retailers with a front line armed with product knowledge enjoy sales growth that exceeds industry standards by 2-3 times and improved employee retention rates.”

“To be successful in retail environments, you must focus on your frontline workers,” said Paulo Goelzer Ph.D, CEO, Retail Learning Institute/IGA Coca-Cola Institute. “Partnering with leaders on the natural space, we are able to provide specialized content that can prepare associates to support their shoppers in everything natural.”

The LearnNatural’s “Around Grocery the Aisles” courses are available to all of the Institute’s 430,000+ users at no cost, and to the general public at the Grocery Start site.