Culture NUGGET MARKET, INC. • 2022
CHR O NI CLE S
Culture CHR O NI CLE S
F
un, family, extraordinary—that’s Nugget in a nutshell! In fact, we love our Nugget Markets team so much, every edition of Culture Chronicles is dedicated to all of U! Through thick and thin, you, our amazing associates, never lose sight of our Core Values and Company Goals, and that’s what makes
us such an extraordinary grocery experience for our guests and the heart of our communities. Flip through this year’s edition to see what sorts of adventures, benefits and achievements have been going on behind the scenes and at stores across our company. Thank you all for another amazing year—here’s to many more!
Do you know all our stores’ nicknames? Store 1: Aces
Store 14: Shark Tank
Store 2: Mighty Mace Mavericks
Store 15: The Icebox
Store 5: Florin Kings
Store 16: The Warriors
Store 6: Team Sixcess
Store 17: Bear Squad
Store 7: Wolf Pack
Store 21: Blackjack
Store 8: Gladi8tors
Store 30: Team 30 Rock
Store 9: Gold 9ers
Warehouse and NMK: The Hive
Store 10: The Perfect 10
$20 WINNER
F U N FA C T:
Store 11: Phoenix
Along with unique nicknames,
Store 12: The Show
every store also has its own personal mantra! Check them all out on page 24!
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8
Fortune Favors the Bold
The Benefits of Benefits
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28
38
44
48 Trust or Bust
52
Extra, Extra!
58
66
74
Really Awesome, Very Extraordinary
Absolutely Positively
Leading by Example
Family First
FUN Facts
And the Winner Is…
In the Community
78 Keeping it Green
$20 WINNER 2022 |
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A Letter from Our President Team—Once again, thank you for making us a great place to work! It all starts with you and allowing yourself to be fully part of this fun-loving extended family we call Nugget Markets. Our Core Values and Company Goals set the foundation for our wonderful (and wacky!) team. I hope you have enjoyed working for the company this year. Covid has once again pulled and stretched us like never before, but I’m so grateful our united work family has been here through it all, ready to pick each other up or give a hug whenever one was needed.
Our guests also grew to depend on us more than ever over these past couple of years. Often, we were their only escape from lockdown. You were that smiling face even through the mask, and their only sense of normalcy. We built greater trust and friendships with our guests over these past two years thanks to U. Being recognized as a top employer in the nation is pretty cool, but knowing that I have your trust, support and appreciation is so much better! We are all in this together building something very special that few teams get to experience. Thank you for being the best and making us the best! Cheers and many thanks,
ERIC STILLE President / Chief Executive Officer 4 |
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Fortune Favors the
BOLD
F
or 17 years in a row, Nugget Markets has claimed a spot on Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list! The Great Place to Work Institute determines the list using its proprietary “For All” methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America’s largest ongoing annual workforce study. This year alone, they looked at more than 870,000 employee survey responses and data from companies representing more than 6.1 million employees across the country.
To take part in the evaluation, companies provide organizational data like size, location, industry, demographics, roles and levels. The survey (which many of you have taken) also enables associates to share confidential quantitative and qualitative feedback about their organization’s culture by responding to sixty statements on a five-point scale and answering two open-ended questions. Collectively, these statements describe a great employee experience, defined by high levels of trust, respect, credibility, fairness, pride and camaraderie.
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Here's a highlight of what you had to say in last year’s Trust Index Survey:
BIG SPIN WINNER
Family-owned regional grocery chain Nugget Market prides itself on taking care of its employees. When its workers put their safety on the line during the start of the pandemic, the company put in place more rigorous safety measures and showed its appreciation by increasing pay by $2 an hour for all associates. Nugget Market extends its health care benefits to part-time employees who work 22 hours or more a week, and there’s no tiered benefit system
so both associates and executives receive the same coverage plan. Employees are regularly celebrated: Managers recognize standout associates, giving them an opportunity to spin a wheel for cash prizes. Nugget Market also shows how it cares deeply for the environment—it has made a substantial investment of $15 million in clean fuel cell energy with Bloom Energy, helping the company get one step closer to its ultimate goal of clean hydrogen power and a zero-net carbon footprint.
FORTUNE MAGAZINE 100 Best Companies to Work For 2022
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The Benefits of
Benefits
H
aving a really great healthcare plan for associates and their families is extremely important to Nugget Markets. With the ever-increasing cost of healthcare, it is very rare to find companies that pay 100% of their associates’ healthcare premiums, and we are proud to be one of the few!
The company paid out a total of $14,165,000 in medical benefits in 2021!
Not only that, Nugget Markets operates a partially self-insured medical plan. What does that mean? Well, under a traditional medical plan, a company pays a fixed monthly premium to the insurance company based on the number of associates and their dependents enrolled in the plan. The insurance company pays all claims, regardless of size. Under a partially insured plan like ours, a company assumes the risk and pays for all medical claims up to a predefined dollar limit. If the claim amounts extend beyond that limit, the insurance pays the balance. During a typical year, Nugget Markets directly pays more than 90% of all medical claims, and only 10% are paid by insurance. For context, the company paid out a total of $14,165,000 in medical benefits in 2021! Why do we do this? Because, by assuming the risk and paying for most medical claims, we are able to reduce insurance premiums and offer our associates the best possible coverage!
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JILLIAN MATTA
SHERI BOONE
RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ
Human Resources - Benefits Team
Director of Payroll & Benefits
Human Resources - Benefits Team
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Health Plan Notable Mentions • Our plan allows associates to see a specialist without a referral from their primary care provider. • Mental Health Wellness is included within our health plan.
It’s easy to take this benefit for granted, especially if you’re unaware of the actual cost of coverage. To help you understand the dollar value, each associate would have to pay $600.33 per month for their Anthem Blue Cross healthcare premium (medical, dental, prescription and vision) if Nugget Markets did not pay it for them—that’s $7,203.96 per year! With our benefits at Nugget Markets, associates can add coverage
• Alternate resources in obtaining healthcare (including mental health wellness): LiveHealthOnline where medical professionals are available to assist you via video visit.
for their eligible dependents at a very reasonable cost. For example, an associate would be required to pay $1,242.68 per month to include spousal coverage, compared to Nugget Markets’ current premium deduction of $30 per week. Associates can also provide full healthcare coverage for their entire family for just $60 per week ($3,120 per year) in contrast to paying a $1,897.04 per month premium, which equals $22,764.48 per year. And remember, dependent premium weekly deductions are on a tax-free basis. As you can see when we look at real dollars, the healthcare benefit at Nugget Markets (which includes medical, dental, prescription and vision) saves every associate $7,203.96 per year in premium pay, or up to $19,644.48 ($22,648.48 minus $3,120.00) in premiums for family coverage. That’s a really big deal! In addition to all of the above, our associates are even eligible for healthcare benefits at just 22 hours worked per week, compared to the nationwide standard of 30 hours per week as dictated by the Affordable Care Act. Any way you look at it, the healthcare benefits we have at Nugget Markets are outstanding and a major point of difference! 2022 |
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Oh, Baby! Our Nugget Markets family is growing all the time! From maternity leave to baby bonding or even general surgeries, if a need for a leave arises, contact our wonderful benefits team at benefits@ nuggetmarket.com or (530) 399-3355 (select "benefits" option) to learn what options are available to you. 10 |
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Other Great Benefits EAP (Employee Assistance Program) • No-cost resources that associates and their families can utilize for help and guidance in many areas including mental health, substance abuse and other professional counseling (up to 5 free visits). • You do not need to be enrolled in our healthcare plan to use this benefit.
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) • Reimbursement for medical expenses
Associate 10% Discount/U-Card (see page 15)
Long-Term Disability Insurance
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Group Term Life Insurance
Dependent Care Account • Reimbursement for dependent care expenses
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benefits@nuggetmarket.com
Feel Free to Reach Out!
CA-Sick Pay • 24 hours annually
Bereavement Pay
ENGLISH: (530) 399-3355 (select the “benefits” option) SPANISH: (530) 399-3375
6 Recognized Paid Holidays • • • • • •
Holiday-Worked Pay
New Year’s Day Memorial Day Fourth of July Labor Day Thanksgiving Christmas Day
Scholarships (see page 14)
Vacation/PTO Combination • After the 90-day introductory period, associates begin accruing Vacation/PTO. Associates can earn up to 5 weeks of vacation, depending on years of service and additionally, associates can earn up to 32 hours of PTO annually.
$20 WINNER
• Unused Vacation/PTO hours will roll into the next year. Associates may request a payout from their Vacation/PTO.
As you can see, Nugget Markets offers an extraordinary benefits package throughout associates’ journeys with us! For more details, refer to the benefits guide and/or the Summary Plan Description (if applicable). If you ever have questions, please contact the benefits team at benefits@nuggetmarket.com or (530) 399-3355 and choose the “benefits” option. 2022 |
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It Pays to Learn Here at Nugget Markets, we’re big fans of constant improvement. That’s why we award $12,000 in scholarships to associates or dependents of associates who are continuing their education every year! Scholarships are based on academic merit and evidence of outstanding character and leadership potential. If you or your dependent are pursuing further education, don’t forget to apply! Watch for your opportunity to apply in the upcoming year.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2021 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS! Gene & Joan Stille Scholarships: • Haley Cruz – Store #7 • Rashida Gumah – Store #5 • Savannah Henderson – Store #21 • Rebecca La Bad (dependent of Ken La Bad, Jr.) – Store #21 • Noemi Martinez – Store #17 • Joseph Rodriguez (dependent of Luis Rodriguez) – Store #5 • Aurora Schunemann – Store #12 • Cyrena Selden – Store #9 • Trejon Smith (not pictured) (dependent of Dale Smith) - Corporate • Elxx Vanderpool – Store #1 Adam Bazarnik Scholarship: • Giovanni Garcia – Store #1 Barry Ashcraft Scholarship: • Daniel Ramos – Store #5
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Show Me the Money! Your U-Card is your key to two types of financial benefits. First of all, you can scan it at the register to save 10% on groceries from any of our Nugget Market, Inc. stores. Secondly, keep an eye out for your unique “U” design on daily U-Tube messages, in Lil’ Nuggets and in other company communications for your chance to win big money. Are you in the know…?
Associate Card Gene Stille 12345/9876 • A 10% discount will be applied when this card is scanned. Receipt must be filled out and signed for every purchase. • Only Nugget Market, Inc. associates and their immediate family members (with whom associates reside) may use this card. Card is non-transferrable. • This card may be used at any grocery store owned and operated by Nugget Market, Inc.
We appreciate your dedication and all you do. Thank you!
In 2021, the company paid out more than… • $66,000 in U-Card redemptions
• $243,000 in Rewards and Gold Coins
• $136,000 in U Make Us Better spins
• $263,000 in Associate Appreciation • $804,000 in Associate Discounts
…$1,512,000 total!
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401(k)
Exposé
Fun 401(k) Facts: • Current Participants: 2,058 • Participation Rate: 98%+ • Average Participant Balance: $49,000 This is AWESOME!
• Total Plan Assets: $100,300,000 At Nugget Markets, every eligible associate is autoenrolled in the 401(k) plan. Associates can opt out of auto-enrollment, but there are so many reasons why you should participate!
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Tax Benefits The 401(k) plan offers you two ways to save. The most common way to contribute to your 401(k) is on a pretax basis. That means your contributions (along with associated investment growth) is not subject to income tax until withdrawn from the plan at retirement. The other option is to contribute on a post-tax basis (also known as a ROTH contribution). ROTH contributions, along with associated investment growth, can be withdrawn tax-free at retirement. ROTH contributions are a great option early in your career when tax rates and earnings are lower. Unfortunately, tax rates tend to increase over time so paying tax now at low rates can equal big savings at retirement! See some examples on page 20.
Check out these photos of a few of our recent retirees. Do you see the smiles on their faces? Those smiles say:
Company Match Every time you contribute to your 401(k), Nugget Markets matches 50% of your contribution up to 2% of your total compensation. That’s the equivalent of earning a 50% return on your investment every time you contribute!
“All FUN from now on!”
In 2021, the company paid out $3,584,500 in retirement contributions, plan fees and profit sharing!
“I can do whatever I want, whenever I want now!”
“I am so glad I saved for retirement by contributing to my Nugget Markets 401(k)!”
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Best-In-Class Investment Options The 401(k) plan offers 27 different investment options, including the industry’s best target date funds. A target date fund includes a mix of investments that balance expected returns and risk based on a participant’s target retirement date. The make-up of the fund changes over time as you near retirement. Nearly 80% of the plan’s total assets are invested in target date funds. However, you have the option to customize your plan portfolio using the catalog of available funds and can change your investments at any time.
Matching Retirement Contribution Eligible associates are auto-enrolled in pre-tax contributions of 2% of weekly pay. You can increase or decrease your contribution amounts whenever you want, but remember you need to contribute at least 4% to get the 2% company match. Contributions automatically escalate 1% annually every July (unless you decline) until you reach 10%. If 10% is not enough, you can always contribute more, up to the annual contribution limits set by the IRS. Contribution limits for 2022 are $20,500 for participants under 50 and $27,000 for those 50 and over.
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We recently added a new fund choice: the Goldman Sachs International Equity ESG Fund. ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance, and the ESG fund selects investments in companies that meet high standards in these areas. It’s no coincidence that companies meeting the ESG criteria also tend to perform better financially. You can read up on this new fund through your Empower online portal. You can also contact Empower to learn more about your fund options. Empower even has a team of professional advisers that can personally manage your account for a fee if you prefer. This is not a onesize-fits-all plan!
Discretionary Company Contributions In addition to matching your contributions, Nugget Markets can also make an annual discretionary contribution to participant accounts based on the company’s business performance. Historically, the discretionary contribution has averaged 2% of eligible participant compensation. For example, if you are contributing at least 4% to your 401(k), you will receive a 2% match and potentially an additional 2% discretionary contribution annually. That’s a big deal!
If you’re not currently enrolled in our 401(k) plan, or perhaps not making the most of the opportunity to save, it’s never too late to start!
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Hourly Rate
Let’s look at some examples:
Weekly Pay
$
$
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30 $
600
20 30
$
600
4% Contribution
24
24
Company Match
12
12
Total Contribution
$
36
$
36
Estimated Annual Discretionary Match - 2%
$
624
$
624
Impact on Weekly Paycheck
$
$
(24)
(18)
Estimated 401(k) Balance After 40 Years: Taxable Balance
$537,000
$262,000
Non-Taxable Balance
$
-
$275,000
Total
$537,000
$537,000
THOSE ARE BIG NUMBERS! Whether you invest on a pre-tax or post-tax (ROTH) basis, your balance can grow quickly. In the pre-tax scenario, the associate’s net pay is only reduced by $18 a week, but the entire account balance is taxable when withdrawn. Because ROTH contributions are made after tax, the associate’s weekly pay is reduced by the full $24. However, at retirement, $275,000 of the estimated $537,000 ROTH balance can be distributed tax free! By comparison, if you took the same $24 weekly contribution and stuffed it in your mattress for 40 years, you would only have saved $62,400. That’s the power of Nugget Markets’ contributions and compounded investment earnings!
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ROTH
Weekly Hours Worked
Assume an associate makes $20/hr, works 30 hours a week and contributes 4% to their 401(k) plan. The example associate is 25 years old and contributes for 40 years. Assume over the course of that time, the average return on the associate’s account is 7% (which is equal to the average stock market return over the last 100 years). Here’s a look at both pre-tax and ROTH scenarios:
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Pre-Tax
Hopefully this has been helpful in showing that contributing to your 401(k) is a smart choice towards your retirement. If you have any questions, just ask our benefits team or visit your Empower online portal. Happy saving!
Congrats to all the associates who retired this year!
WAYNE RUDI 33 years, 7 months
SYLVIA CHU 18 years, 3 months
MIN TAN 29 years, 3 months
KARENE MACGREGOR 16 years
LYNETTE DORNAN 22 years, 4 months
QIWEN LI 15 years, 4 months
JIM LIN 21 years, 3 months
JIANMING MAI 14 years, 2 months
SEK CHAN 21 years, 8 months
Min Tan (29 years), Sek Chan (22 years), Jim Lin (21 years), Qiwen Li (15 years) and Jianming Mai (14 years)
$25 WINNER 2022 |
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Really Awesome, Very Extraordinary
W
hile that’s definitely a worthy acronym, we all know what RAVE really stands for: Respect, Appreciate and Value Everyone! As one of our Core Values, RAVE has always been and will always be a central pillar for our Nugget Market, Inc. family. We firmly believe our differences make us stronger, which is why we embrace our team’s diversity of race, gender, age, background, beliefs and what makes us all unique.
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We champion RAVE and equality both within our walls and out in our community because our Nugget Markets family, like a mosaic, is a beautiful masterpiece made up of every associate on our team. By modeling RAVE in every guest, vendor and associate interaction, we’re helping take care of each other and making every moment a WOW moment. By celebrating what makes each other special, unique and different, we also encourage each other to do the same and create a stronger family for it. Let’s hear it for RAVE!
$20 WINNER
Manifesting Greatness RAVE is one of our company’s overarching mantras, but this year we asked every store to create their own team mantra in 15 words or less! Across the company, our talented teams showed up and then some with powerful declarations to motivate and inspire. Check out our mantra montage on pages 24 to 27 to see each location’s personal rallying cry!
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Family First
W
hat makes Nugget Markets so extraordinary? U—our family! From new hires to veterans in every store and department, we work hard to create an environment where everyone feels truly safe, valued and like they belong. We pull
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for each other. We celebrate with each other. We cry and hurt with each other. We help and support each other. We lift each other up. We are honest with each other. And we truly want the best for each other—just like you would for your family!
In the Kitchen When we need a ton of food in no time flat, it’s the NMK to the rescue! Our Nugget Markets Kitchen (a.k.a. the NMK) is our central kitchen in Woodland operated by our own talented chefs and bakers. Thanks to our industrious NMK team, our guests can enjoy the same amazing foods no matter which Nugget Markets location they visit! Ever since the NMK came to be, it has been a game-changer in terms of what we can offer our guests company-wide. Along with increasing the consistency of product quality across stores, our NMK also helps relieve tight labor constraints in smaller stores, freeing up store-level associates for other important tasks. Huge thanks to our spectacular NMK kitchen and bakery teams for all the support they provide our stores and for all the delicious foods they make for our guests!
$20 WINNER 2022 |
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$40 WINNER
F U N FA C T: Our production team at the NMK produces more than 7,000 hand-rolled croissants, 3,000 cake rounds (4 different flavors), 15,000 salads (over 30 varieties), 2,000 pounds of guacamole and 45,000 individual cookies EVERY WEEK!
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Drumroll, Please… From March 2021 through March 2022, our warehouse team shipped out… • 3,307,740 cases from NMK = $14,783,500 • 313,890 cases of Adult Beverage = $15,803,000 • 1,580,000 cases of Dry, Dairy, Frozen, GM, HBC, Meat Deli = $22,825,000
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Who, What, Warehouse! You may not see them in stores, but our hardworking warehouse team is responsible for keeping things running smoothly behind the scenes. Thanks to their efforts picking and shipping orders nearly every day, our stores stay stocked with all sorts of non-perishable products. From managing incoming and outgoing loads to driving forklifts and operating other heavy equipment, this tremendous team stays busy keeping track of thousands of cases of products housed in our warehouse and making sure every store gets just what they need in a timely manner. The past year was extra challenging with the amount of product we received and shipped out of the warehouse. The good news is we expanded the warehouse to add two more rows of rack, giving us 600 more pick locations for a total of more than 9,000! On a normal day, our receiving team can handle 12 truckloads a day, but at the height of things, the team was receiving 17 trucks on some days just to keep up with the demand at store level! What this team was able to accomplish is truly amazing. Thank you, warehouse team, for always keeping our stock levels (and spirits) high!
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Stock Talk Working tirelessly through the night, Stock Crew teams are the backbone of our stores. These amazing associates are responsible for spotting and throwing the largest loads in the company, rotating and code checking along the way. They build displays, work repack, restock shelves from items on display, pull up displays, keep the backroom organized and face the entire center store! It takes serious hustle and many calories burned to get shelves filled and the stores put back together each and every night, and we couldn’t do it without them! But before any loads can be thrown, orders must be placed. There is an art to ordering, and we have some of the best stock
crew managers and order writers in the business! They have the huge task of ordering nearly ⅓ of all products sold in our stores, and the responsibility of “writing the checks” for those purchases. Good orders start with knowing what’s already in our warehouse, and 5–6 nights per week the team must execute on the In/Out report, marking everything that has landed in the warehouse but does not yet have a warehouse tag with a red dot. If an item has fallen out of the warehouse, the warehouse tag gets pulled. This communicates to the order writer where to order from. We don’t want to order full-cost items from a vendor when they are sitting in the warehouse with a better cost! We also don’t want to risk having a hole on the shelf if the item is no longer in the warehouse.
In addition to knowing where to order from, a great order writer is considering what’s on ad and what’s going on or off deal. The goal is to never run out of ad items, and to be ordering extra when products are on deal to bridge through the time when those products are not on deal, a.k.a. bridge buying. It is a delicate balance to buy just enough to get through to the next deal window, because
Case Count Winner Yanna Khripunov
F U N FA C T: In the 52 weeks from April 2021 to April 2022, our stock crew teams purchased $46,736,879 worth of product from UNFI, C&S, C&S GMD, Supervalu/Market Center and the Warehouse, and threw a whopping 10,176,715 cases! 34 |
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LEARN THE LINGO Check Case Count To count how many cases came on a load and compare it to the number of cases listed on the invoice. This is how we check to see if we were shorted any items on large loads.
Spot the Load
buying too much can result in products coding out and costing extra labor as we touch them multiple times through moving displays around, counting for inventory and shuffling them around in backstock. Other considerations for excellent orders are holidays, weather, retail drops and shortages on other products in the category that might drive guests to buy more of a similar product. But order writers must always be careful of ordering extra, just in case! Ordering extra cases that did not need to be ordered before the next order makes
As a load is broken down, items are wheeled on a hand truck to the aisle where they will be thrown and stacked in front of their respective set.
rotating slower and takes longer to throw, leaving less time to get everything else done, like facing!
Throw the Load To put the load away.
As you can see, while our Stock Crew teams may rarely get to interact with guests on the salesfloor, they provide a tremendous service by living and breathing the 5 Basics and taking pride in providing our guests a world-class experience throughout the center store. Thank you, Stock Crew, for all you do—U Rock!
Case Count Speed How many cases are thrown by an individual each hour. This includes cleanup time.
Repack Loose items that don’t fit on the shelf. These are stored in milk crates, organized by aisle in the backroom.
Shelf Stretcher You will have to ask...
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IT by the Numbers Our IT team monitors an average of 30,000 EFT transactions each day (credit, debit, EBT, etc.). That’s more than 10 million transactions each year!
We sell an average of 41,940 different items each week (nearly 170,000 including holiday items, ingredients and supplies!), which IT maintains each and every day.
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IT receives around 10 support tickets/calls each day. When this was written, they had a total of 59 opened tickets: 38 were software enhancement requests for N2, and 21 were waiting on either a part, repair, system alert, service by a vendor or response from an associate as a follow-up to an issue.
IT manages and support more than 1,700 devices throughout the company including PCs, laptops, handhelds, tablets, U-Tubes, registers, scales, servers, printers, access points, network switches, company cell phones and more.
Our IT team keys 3,000–7,000 price changes submitted by the buying team each week, which are then implemented (tags hung and batches executed) by the POS teams in stores.
We receive an average of 1,500 emails each day. 34% of these are legit, 17% are SPAM and 49% are blocked due to due Internet Protocol Reputation and Sender Intelligence (bad sites). Our cybersecurity uses artificial intelligence and multi-factor authentication to help keep us secure.
Our amazing and talented IT team has more than 218 years combined grocery experience in IT, which averages to about 19 years each—wow!
Ready, Set, Reset! Affectionately known as the Special Forces of Grocery, the Reset Team often comes to the rescue to cover departments and shifts, help in an emergency or assist during inventory. Whatever the case may be, when the Grocery Team sees any member of the Reset Team come in, they’re grateful! As awesome as they are at helping, the Reset Team’s real magic happens in the guts of our stores—the aisles and cold cases. To make sure we have the optimal product mix to meet our guests’ needs and to make sure we are maximizing the profitability of every inch of our salesfloor, the Buyers continually do category reviews to evaluate trends, new items, performance of existing items and sales relative to other categories (space to sales). Once the product mix has been
adjusted through discontinues and new item authorizations, it’s time to reset the category. Sometimes that involves reallocating space throughout an entire aisle at all 16 stores! The Reset Team goes to work removing everything from the shelves, cleaning, adjusting shelf heights and more before they set the product. There is a science to setting a category—grouping by most alike items, by attribute like organic, shortest to tallest by sub-category, having it flow in a pattern that’s logical for our guests, giving extra facings to fast-moving items, cutting all the new items in, making sure slow movers don’t have too many facings and so on. There also must be pack out for each item:
Case + Face = Pack Out For instance, if there is a 12-pack of pasta sauce, but only 5 jars deep can fit, there will need to be 3 facings allotted to achieve pack out. That way, when there
are 3 left on the shelf (face), and another case is ordered, the full case can go to the shelf without any going to repack. The set then needs to be retagged and all the product code-checked and put back on the shelves (back filled). Each reset results in better itemization for our guests based on the latest trends, new shopping patterns and thoughtful layout. In addition to enhancing our guests’ shopping experience, the Reset Team’s mission is to leave the store more efficient with perfectly allocated facings and pack out, which improves efficiency of order writing, out of stocks, sales, backroom organization, inventory levels, code issues and ultimately margins. Thank you, Eric, Kurt, Liz and Rahman, for making our center store the envy of our competition!
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FUN
Facts In 2021, we spent a total of $308,950.54 on parties and events!
We encourage “letting out your inner dork” at work.
You can’t spell FUN without U! When global pandemics aren’t a thing, Nugget Markets hosts company-wide field trips like snowboarding or river rafting.
Fun is one of Nugget Markets’ 5 Core Values. Fun is in Nugget Markets’ Global Expectations THREE times!
Our annual Bag-Off event is one of our biggest, funnest events of the year! Keep an eye out for our 2022 Bag-Off coming this fall…
S
ince we take fun so seriously here at Nugget Markets, we thought we’d share some FUN Facts about this Core Value!
Dunk tanks and pie-throwing have been incentives for stores to perform above and beyond. Our stores host parties, contests and other events with great prizes to keep spirits strong!
Our stores’ spirit weeks and costume days let our associates dress to impress!
Having fun is an important part of mental health and overall wellbeing.
Sharing enthusiasm, smiles and laughter helps our team AND our guests have a good time!
From graduations to retirement and everything in between, we like to celebrate BIG TIME.
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$45 WINNER
The Champ Is Here! For the first time in Nugget Markets history, one of our amazing associates has claimed the title of Best Bagger in the Nation—let’s hear it for Alexa Sobsey from our West Sacramento store! Alexa won 1st place in the National Grocers Association’s Best Bagger Championship in Las Vegas, earning both ultimate b(r)agging rights and the grand prize of $10,000! Alexa trained hard to earn her title and has been practicing since she started at Nugget Markets in 2018.
As the back-to-back champion of Nugget Markets’ annual Bag-Off in 2020 and 2021, she represented both our company and our state at Nationals twice in a row. After coming in 5th in the nation in 2021, she claimed the ultimate victory in 2022. Way to go, Alexa! U Rock!!! “I’ve had my heart set on winning Nationals since the first time I competed at Cal-Expo and finished in second place," Alexa said. "Since then, my team has
always had my back. They saw the passion I had for bagging and supported me whole-heartedly through every step of the process. I’m beyond grateful for everyone who made the time to practice with me after work and for all the times I heard, ‘You’ll make us proud no matter what happens.’ Thank you to all of my Nugget family—I couldn’t have done this without you…" THE CHAMP IS HERE!
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Costume Party! Our team doesn’t need to be asked twice to dress up for some fun! Whether it’s themed spirit weeks or holiday festivities like Halloween costumes and ugly sweaters contests around Christmastime, our associates are always dressed to impress!
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Absolutely Positively N
ot only is Positive Attitude one of our company’s Core Values, it’s also one of the key things we look for in hiring new associates! This important quality helps a person stay on track even when things get tough. A mistake can be a failure, or an opportunity to learn, grow and improve. A challenge can be the end of the road, or a chance to strengthen your resolve, overcome and show yourself what you’re made of. It’s all in how you look at it! Why is this so important? Because whatever we put in, we get out. Put simply, the attitude we bring to the table determines our outcomes. Mediocre attitudes yield mediocre results, but extraordinary attitudes lead to extraordinary results! By starting each day with an optimistic mindset, we’re empowering ourselves to achieve great things. What are you excited to pursue and accomplish lately? With the right attitude, anything is possible!
No matter how much pie gets thrown your way, a sincere smile brightens everyone's day!
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Always on Display Part of having a positive attitude is taking pride in what you do! From facing products to turning guest opportunities into WOW moments, our teams constantly put out amazing work every single day. While not all of these instances are photographable, our stunning shelves and gorgeous displays sure are! Way to keep our stores looking great, team! 46 |
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Trust or Bust! W hile all of our Core Values are vital, trust is the firm foundation for everything we do. Our guests trust us to provide great service, selection and quality day in and day out; our associates trust each other to get the job done so everyone can thrive together; and our store teams trust our company to take care of them with sincere support, great benefits and a safe environment to come to work to every day.
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The thing about trust is, it’s hard to build and easy to lose. That’s why we put such a premium on growing and maintaining trust in all we do. Honesty, reliability and transparency help build trust, and we’re so proud of our incredible team for living with integrity that our associates. guests, vendors and communities can count on. As we like to say, we’re in the people business—we just happen to sell groceries!
Trust is fragile— handle it with care! When we sell our guests high-quality products, we build their trust in us. When we sell our guests poor-quality products, we tear down their trust in us. Lately we’ve received a lot of guest compliments about our consistent quality and delicious food, but have also received several quality-related complaints from disappointed guests. Some were about expired (or nearly expired) prepackaged products, and others were about spoiled or undercooked food. Quality is a key driver for our business, which is why we developed our Trust sticker program.
Today, stop and count the number of Trust stickers on your department’s communication board! That total is a direct reflection of how well you and your team are building TRUST with our guests. No matter whether you are aiming to add another Trust sticker to a long streak or are starting over after losing all your stickers, be sure to stay focused on executing thorough, careful daily quality inspections! If something isn’t up to our standards, pull it immediately!
CHRIS CARPENTER Vice President / Chief Operating Officer
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Concerning COVID Because of our firm foundation of trust, both you and our guests know you can always count on us no matter what. Taking care of our people is always more important than turning a profit! To date, we have spent more than $37.3 million on COVID-19related expenses, and we firmly believe every penny was worth it.
COVID Expenses MARCH 1, 2020 — MARCH 1, 2022 $2/hr Thank You Pay
$100 VACCINE INCENTIVE
$169‚800
DONATIONS
$227,000
SUPPLIES & EQUIPMENT
$613,300
HEALTH EXPENSES
$1,087,500
SUPPLEMENTAL SICK PAY / NCP COVID CLEANING & GREETERS
COVID Cleaning & Greeters
$6,499,000
Supplemental Sick Pay / NCP
$2,679,400
Health Expenses
$1,087,500
Supplies & Equipment
$613,300
Donations
$227,000
$100 Vaccine Incentive
$169,800
Total COVID Expenses
$2,679,400
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$37,342,000
$6,499,000
$2/HR THANK YOU PAY DOLLAR AMOUNT
$26,066,400
$26,066,400 $5,000,000
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$10,000,000
$15,000,000
$20,000,000
$25,000,000
$30,000,000
What Our Guests Are Saying Word of mouth is a powerful tool in building a brand or reputation—luckily ours is a good one! Thanks to you, our amazing associates, setting the bar for phenomenal service in every store day in and day out, we receive rave reviews and glowing guest comments on a regular basis. These recent examples are just the tip of the iceberg!
GUEST COMMENT CARD—STORE #30
Excellent customer service made a hard day better. Very positive and enjoyable person. Was super friendly and kind. Made my day! Would like to give kudos to Timo. GUEST COMMENT CARD—STORE #10
Just wanted to give praise to Felipe in the meat department. He is always so helpful when I ask for anything. He goes above and beyond when it comes to his superb customer service! I just did not want his super customer service to go unnoticed! One of the reasons I shop here is because of people employees like Felipe. Keep up the good work! Thanks! <3
GUEST COMMENT CARD—STORE #1
Great employees! As usual, every one of Nugget’s employees was friendly, helpful, polite and happy! But Jake in the Seafood department was super exceptional! He cut up the king salmon special for me, just the way I like it. He went out of his way to get the fish from the back. I really like shopping here because of the employees and the fresh food! GUEST COMMENT CARD—STORE #8
I wanted to share my appreciation of Ricardo, the newest coffee bar manager! Ricardo seems to have a sixth sense because he is so fast having my coffee order ready that many times it is waiting for me when I get to the register. Now that is awesome service. In addition, he is always friendly and cordial while knocking out everyone else’s orders too.
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Extra, R
Extra!
ead all about it! Communication is an incredible tool in all we do at Nugget Markets. By sharing product knowledge with each other and our guests, we can better explain what we have to offer and why. By keeping up with safety and training procedures, we can ensure everyone stays as safe, healthy and happy as possible.
the first 6 weeks of every quarter, our departments can align on past progress, future goals and the current focus. By staying in the know, we can discover valuable insights and stay up on company news. That’s the power of communication!
Another vital part of communication is hearing from U! Remember, you
Since communication is so very
are encouraged and empowered to
important, we get after it with a multi-
talk to your leaders, use our U Matter
faceted approach in our efforts to keep
boxes and celebrate your teammates
everyone in the loop. From in-store
with U Rock messages and U Make Us
rallies to the daily digital U-Tube
Better cards. Two-way dialogue is an
messages, regular reviews to training
important part of helping each other
camps and our CTF (Communication
and our company constantly improve,
Task Force) meetings, we talk the talk
so let’s keep the robust, RAVE-filled
and walk the walk.
feedback coming!
U-Card Redemption Rate Total Company Year over Year
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2016 52 |
By having quarterly meetings in
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2018
2019
2020
2021
It seemed very fitting that our resident wordsmith/Marketing Communications Manager, Lydia McNabb, was honored with Spotlight on Service at a CTF Meeting!
The Return of Return to Learn We are thrilled to finally bring back this beloved event! Back and better than ever, Return to Learn is our very own education event when we offer a variety of exciting classes for our associates to choose from and attend on company time. Top leaders from our company and select partners come together to offer all sorts of exciting subjects to satisfy any interest. The classes cover everything from personal and professional growth opportunities to "how to" food topics and more. This is an excellent opportunity for every single associate to learn about the "why" behind what we do here at Nugget Market, Inc. Not only does Return to Learn give you the opportunity to attend a class of your choice, you’re also paid to attend that class! Once the brochure featuring course options lands in the stores, keep in mind that there are specific dates to sign up. Be quick to jump on board with signing up for your chosen class once the sign-up period begins as classes fill up fast!
$25 WINNER
$30 WINNER 2022 |
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First Stop, Training! Whenever a new associate joins our ranks, our training team is here to help them learn the ropes, our company culture and many of the skills they’ll need to succeed. Despite all the obstacles, our tremendous training team continued to perform in-person courses over the last two years including everything from orientation to courtesy, checker, deli and bakery training. In addition to onboarding classes, our training team also offers leadership courses such as Leadership 101 and PIC 101. We’ve also continued to teach food safety courses through the National Restaurant Association by hosting Serv Safe handler and manager sessions. In our neverending commitment to safety,
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the training department also helps coordinate First Aid and CPR classes with Janette Ferrara (LP at Store #21) and leads our Train the Trainer course for power equipment operators. With the need to encourage social distancing during the height of the pandemic, our
training team expanded their training sites to accommodate the influx of new hires. Huge thanks to our stores in Roseville (#7 and #10), West Sacramento (#6), Vacaville (#11) and Novato (#16)—each one has been amazing at providing a worldclass environment to welcome our new associates!
Behind the Scenes of Bag-Off Our annual Bag-Off is the highlight of our training department's year. This epic event starts with the training team traveling to all 14 competing stores to judge every bagger on their skills. Once the finalists are chosen, the training team collaborates with the Get ‘R Done team (a.k.a. Nugget's own Imagineers) to host a themed night for the main event. Our company spares no expense to make our annual event a spectacle! In previous years, we’ve had more than 500 associates in the audience to cheer on our best baggers! Jeremy Jones has taken on the unofficial title of our company's bagger coach for the past 10 years. He dedicates his free time every year to coach our BagOff winner and prep them before they head to the National Grocers Association Best Bagger competition as both Nugget Markets’ and California’s representative.
Congratulations to Alexa Sobsey on taking the crown at nationals this year, and huge thanks to Jeremy for proving that WORLD-CLASS baggers are right here at Nugget Markets! Learn more about Alexa’s journey to becoming the nation’s best bagger on page 41.
All Aboard! In the last 9 months, there have been a few new additions to our training team. Taylor Wohler has been doing a dual role of floor captain at Store #21 and part-time trainer since August 2021. Her wealth of kitchen knowledge has been an incredible strength as we continue to focus our recruiting efforts on the kitchen. Meanwhile, Humberto Maldonado went from full-time trainer to the newest team builder with the hiring team. In his transition, we welcomed Callan Weiss to the team to replace his full-time presence. Callan was the MIC at Store #16 and previously helped the training team enhance our Return to Learn program while in Leadership Nugget.
Training Testimonials “Honestly, the training was awesome! I wouldn't change anything. I'm glad someone taught me about the company rather than watching a PowerPoint by myself and answering questions I won't remember.”
“I don't like giving all the highest numbers, and I usually do not do that, but this team deserves it! I never felt like there was a Captions can go here wrong question or wrong if we want to have time to ask anything. …had some captions there a lot of fun!”
“…this is more than a job, it’s a family!”
“There was great energy throughout. Not only did they allow participation, but it was encouraged!”
“He made what could have been a long, tedious day a very fun and enjoyable experience. This was the best onboarding experience I’ve had in over 40 years of job experience.”
“I'm surprised and grateful for such nice training/orientation from our binders (they are the nicest I've ever had) [and] a full 8-hour orientation, these are things that I've never had. Thanks very much!”
“Everything was great! I am so excited to be part of the family—I could cry happy tears.”
$25 WINNER 2022 |
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The Field Guide & Friends Our guests know they can expect world-class service and amazing products whenever they’re in one of our stores, but we don’t want to stop there. By creating digital and print media, our guests can take a piece of us home with them, or wherever they go! Print-wise, we create colorful collateral like our Field Guide, recipe cards and occasional brochures to help inspire our guests with new and delicious products to try. Our website, blog, newsletter and social media presence also help our guests stay in touch with the latest and greatest Nugget Markets news like contests, events, pro tips, recipe inspiration and more. If you’re not already signed up for our Fresh to Market newsletter or following us on Facebook (find your store location page!), Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest, there’s no time like the present. Sign up and follow us today, and encourage our guests to do the same!
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DELICIOUS DEALS It might be one of the worst-kept secrets, but if you’re not signed up for our ad yet, you’re missing out! Each week there is a new Secret Special that is only available when you’re signed up to receive our weekly ad by email. Ranging from specialty chocolate bars to extra virgin olive oil, bacon to local produce and more, these are crazy-hot retails you don’t want to miss! Besides the fantastic deals offered on Secret Special, the weekly ad is also packed with savings across the store and helpful information on featured items. It's a great way to stay informed yourself, and to help guests who come in looking for each week’s deals. Sign up today to get great savings and product knowledge in your inbox every Wednesday, along with our Fresh to Market newsletter that comes out every Friday! 2022 |
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Leading by
Example
Store Directors
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Kanoa Aipia Store Director, Corte Madera
Rodney Beebe Store Director, Woodland
Chaunté Chastang Store Director, Novato
Philippe Chordas Store Director, Roseville, Pleasant Grove
Erica DeGray Store Director, El Dorado Hills
Jonathan Donnelly Store Director, Tiburon
Jonathan Giannini Store Director, Davis, Covell
Quentine Lambert Store Director, Davis, Mace
Cody Moody Store Director, Sonoma Market
Angel Nolasco Store Director, Roseville, Blue Oaks
Jazzmen Simms Store Director, Sacramento, Florin
Erick St. John Store Director, Vacaville
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Marylin Thorne Store Director, West Sacramento
Brian Wagner Store Director, Elk Grove
Randy Watson Store Director, Fork Lift, Cameron Park
Randy Wehman Store Director, Food 4 Less, Woodland
Y
ou may have heard the term “Servant Leader” used at Nugget Markets, but what does it actually mean? Simply put, exactly how it sounds. Our company org chart is an inverted pyramid with our CEO at the bottom supporting the executive team, who supports our store directors and department managers, who support all our associates at store level. All our leaders’ #1 job is to serve their team and set them up for success! An important thing to remember is that whether you’re a courtesy clerk or a store director, everyone has influence on those around them, making everyone a leader in their own right. With this in mind, it’s extra important to live and model our core values, encouraging and supporting those around you and executing on a high level to both achieve and inspire great things. If we become like the people we spend the most time with, make sure to set the bar high for yourself and others!
Promoting from Within Did you know Nugget Markets fills 95% of our leadership positions from within? It’s true! That’s because we're dedicated to promoting based on talent and ability, and empowering our associates (that means U!) to constantly learn and grow. Ready to take the next step in your Nugget Markets career? Let your leader know and keep an eye out for training classes, our Return to Learn program, Leadership Nugget and other development opportunities. The next generation of homegrown leaders is just getting started! Congratulations to Matt Gibson on stepping into Grocery Ops! We’re so excited for you to bring your legendary work ethic and eagle eye for set maintenance to support the whole company!
Congratulations to Nicki Leonard on joining the Buying Team! Josh and Diana couldn’t be more excited for the help, and we can’t wait to see your talent and wealth of experience in action!
MATT’S NUGGET MARKETS JOURNEY
1. ProClean/Courtesy Clerk 2. Checker 3. Checker & Courtesy Top Gun 4. Bookkeeper 5. PIC 6. POS 7. Grocery Manager 8. Housewares/Specialty Buyer!
1. Janitorial/Cleaning 2. Stock Crew 3. Stock Crew Manager 4. Assistant Grocery Manager/Specialist 5. Grocery Manager 6. Corporate Grocery Operations!
NICKI’S NUGGET MARKETS JOURNEY
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Coach of the Month & Year Having the right mentor makes all the difference. At Nugget Markets, we have an impressive array of coaches throughout our company helping stores, departments and associates all reach the next level. It’s a huge responsibility, so we like to celebrate and recognize our stand-out leaders as Coach of the Month or Year. After all, a successful leader means a successful team!
$30 WINNER
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Leadership Nugget For 17 years and counting (just like our Fortune wins!), Nugget Markets has been hosting an education program known as Leadership Nugget. This year-long course is open to aspiring leaders throughout our company and gives associates an inside look at different departments, leadership principles and business insights through class projects, reading assignments and other character-building activities. Interested in seeing what it’s all about? Make sure to apply when applications open in the spring!
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Training Camps & Field Trips Work hard, play hard—that’s how we do it at Nugget Markets! As you’ve likely seen in action, we take every opportunity to add some fun to the mix, which is why we have educational field trips and training camps out and about whenever possible. From our produce team visiting local farms to leadership teams heading out on the town, we’re always up for adventure!
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And the
Winner Is...
R
ewards and recognition are a huge part of our company culture because we believe hard work and achievements deserve to be praised! From individual awards to store-wide victories, there are a variety of ways our Nugget Markets family can channel friendly competition into outstanding triumphs: Düer shirts, Peep’s Choice awards, Spotlight on Service, U Rocks, the President’s Cup, Coach of the Month, Coach of the Year, Service Wands, Safety Award, Weekly Düers, Associate of the Month, Associate of the Year, Sustainability Jar, Spirit Trophy and the Mack Stille Legacy Award!
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Not only that, you can acknowledge and celebrate your fellow associates, too! Sincere compliments and appreciation are a fantastic way to encourage others, build morale and commend a job well done. Not to mention, every U Make Us Better card has the chance of becoming cash money... cha-ching!
President’s Cup When it comes to store-wide recognition, the award to surpass all awards is the coveted President’s Cup! This awesome award goes to the store with the best execution all year, including meeting sales and labor goals, delivering on our 5 Basics to Increase Sales, maintaining cleanliness and safety, continually raising the standards and giving our guests world-class service. While it was a hard-fought battle, our Vacaville team brought home this prestigious award in 2021— congratulations to The Phoenix!
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Spotlight on Service Both individual associates and whole departments can earn the honor of Spotlight on Service! This award recognizes associates and teams who go above and beyond when it comes to providing amazing service.
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$35 WINNER
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Düers Associates who earn the title of Düer go out of their way to serve our guests and each other. In short, they’re all in! Weekly Düers get a chance to spin the wheel for cash, while coveted Düer shirts are awarded at store parties, events and sometimes meetings!
Magical Service Wands Every month, the two stores that deliver the best guest satisfaction and cultivate the strongest guest trust get to wave the Magical Service Wand with pride.
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U Make Us Better and U Rock Everyone can recognize another associate for a job well done—that’s the point of our UMUB and U Rock programs! U Rock service stories are displayed for the entire store to see, while every UMUB card comes with a chance to win up to $100. For some jaw-dropping numbers on associate appreciation dollars spent, check out Show me the Money on page 15!
Sustainability Jar To celebrate sustainability, every quarter our greenest store wins the Sustainability Jar!
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Mack Stille Legacy Award The highest individual honor at Nugget Markets, this extra-special award is given once a year to one inspiring associate who exemplifies our company philosophies, core values and servant leadership. Let’s hear it for Alex Ornelas, our Director of Training, who earned this award in 2021!
Associate of the Year Associate of the Month? Try Associate of the Year! Every December, one stand-out associate from each store and corporate is honored with this title for their dedication to service, cooperation and teamwork all year long. Shout-out to Diana DePaepe, Grocery Category Manager / Housewares Buyer, who earned the title at corporate last year!
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Associate Referral Program You probably already know that U, our associates, are what makes Nugget Markets extraordinary. That’s why we take such care in hiring the right people, and why your referrals are so valuable! Our hiring team receives thousands of applications every month, so referrals from our own associates are extremely valuable. Even better, you can earn up to $500 for each successfully hired applicant, AND every referring associate is also entered to win a giant $1,000 check!
Safety Award Did you know our 5 Basics to Increase Sales now include Cleanliness AND Safety? That’s because safety is key! Our stores earn safety grades every quarter (some even reaching the elusive A+!), and each year the two stores with the highest safety grades earn the Safety Trophy. Congratulations to Store #9 and Store #16 for winning the Safety Award in 2021!
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In the
Community T
aking care of the communities we call home has always been a big part of what we do at Nugget Markets. From teaming up with our guests on our Community Scrip Program to supporting causes with donations, sponsorships and event participation, we love to help local nonprofits make the world a better place. In the 2021 fiscal year, we donated 897,200 pounds of product valued at $4,776,800! We also made charitable contributions totaling $383,800. Check out a few examples of how we’ve been putting our money where our heart is this last year!
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$35 WINNER
Going Online
Coming Soon! While we faced a few delays in launching our company’s volunteer program (both due to the pandemic and the development of our project management software), our Community Fieldwork Project is still on its way! We anticipate the software will be complete by June 1 and will then begin training our Community Ambassadors for an official summer launch. Congratulations and thank you to those of you who applied! Our current Community Ambassadors are: • Sara Fry representing Store #1
• Lisa Reese and Amber Van Streefkerk representing Store #21 and Store #9 • John Goselin representing Store #30 • Rahman Hay representing Corporate and the Warehouse If anyone is interested in joining the Community Ambassador program and your store is not yet on the list, please reach out to community@nuggetmarket.com to apply. We greatly appreciate your interest and look forward to working with you!
By the time this edition of Culture Chronicles is published, our Community Giving Program will have launched our new online platform that will accept all our donation, sponsorship and event participation requests! This program will not only streamline the process for those handling requests, but will also allow us to collect data on all requests and details regarding the impact of our investments. With the launch of this program, we will no longer accept requests via email or in person—100% of requests will need to be submitted electronically! The link and instructions can be found at nuggetmarket.com/community. Associates assisting our store directors in granting donation and sponsorship requests will be trained just prior to the program launch. Constant improvement, here we come!
• Samantha Scarcello representing Store #2 • Callan Weiss representing Store #6 and Training • Brook Berry representing Store #7 and Store #10 • Sharon Pate representing Store #11 • Joanne Hageman representing Store # 12 • Tracy Cunningham representing Store #17 2022 |
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Over $5.1 Million donated this year in product and cash! Inspiring Philanthropy That’s what the Big Day of Giving (a.k.a. BDOG) in the Greater Sacramento Region is all about! On May 5, the Sacramento Region Community Foundation hosted its 10th Annual Big Day of Giving, a 24-hour, communitywide giving event that unites people throughout the Sacramento region to raise funds for nonprofits that strengthen El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties. Nugget Market, Inc.’s commitment to inspiring philanthropy and the Big Day of Giving is real! We kicked things off by contributing $25,000 as a sponsor of the event. We were also the title sponsor for Yolo Community Foundation’s Philanthropy Breakfast and their Give Yolo Video Contest, for a total investment of $6,500. As in past years, Nugget Markets participated in Big Day of Giving, not only as a sponsor and promoter, but also as a donor, providing matching funds or donations to many nonprofit organizations serving the communities our stores serve. Although Big Day of Giving does not include Marin and Sonoma counties, we give annually to nonprofits in those counties, as well! This year for Big Day of Giving, we focused our contribution on fortifying future generations, specifically kids in crisis. Check out the nonprofit organizations Nugget Market, Inc. supported with either a financial contribution or matching funds of $2,500 or more:
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El Dorado County:
Placer County:
• CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) El Dorado provides support, empowerment and a voice for the abused, neglected and at-risk foster youth in our communities. Different CASA groups also support children in Placer and Yolo counties!
• Kids First Counseling & Family Resource Centers provide education, resources and support for local children, young adults, parents and families in several crucial, high-need areas in Placer County. Kids First also coordinates the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Placer County.
• Stanford Sierra Youth & Families provides a continuum of care to empower youth and families to overcome challenges together, and connects youth in foster care to the permanent loving families they need and deserve.
• CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Placer—see El Dorado County description
Marin County: • Huckleberry Youth Programs strengthen families and empower young people with services that promote safety in times of crisis, physical and emotional health and well-being, social justice in communities facing inequity and educational success. • Together We Rise—Marin is comprised of motivated young adults and former foster youth who strive to improve the lives of children in foster care who often find themselves forgotten and neglected.
Sacramento County: • St. John’s Program for Real Change operates the largest residential program for formerly homeless women and children in the Sacramento region. Their mission is to unleash the potential of women and children in crisis. • Shriners Children’s Hospitals—Northern California bring hope and healing to children, birth to age 18 years, with congenital conditions and complex medical needs by providing vital, pioneering treatment. They provide a full range of programs, services and support, caring for children in a welcoming, warm, reassuring environment.
Sonoma County: • Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance is the go-to agency for youth in need of social and emotional support or those facing family or cultural barriers to success. Since 1996, they have helped school children by pairing them with caring adult mentors who remain involved with their mentee throughout their formative years.
Yolo County: • Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA) supports families to protect and empower our children. YCCA is an inter-agency collaborative that coordinates needed family support services to increase family strengths, enhance child development and reduce child abuse and neglect.
In addition to Big Day of Giving, we have also made contributions to two organizations supporting the needs of children and families struggling because of the war in Ukraine: • World Central Kitchen started serving hot, nourishing meals at a 24-hour pedestrian border crossing in southern Poland within hours of the initial invasion. They are now serving around-the-clock dishes at eight border crossings across the country. Additionally, they are supporting restaurants preparing meals in cities across Ukraine and are also serving thousands of meals every day in Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and Spain.
• Save the Children Children’s Emergency Fund provides children and families impacted by the conflict in Ukraine and around the world with immediate aid, such as food, water, hygiene kits, psychosocial support and cash assistance. Save the Children is a world leader in protecting children from the physical and emotional wounds of war, providing a lifeline for families fleeing violence in Ukraine and dozens of other crises. They work in the hardest-to-reach places, where it’s toughest to be a child.
• Yolo Crisis Nursery offers voluntary and free nurturing childcare for ages birth through five years, 24 hours per day 365 days per year. Equally important are their wraparound services that help parents resolve the problems that brought them to the nursery. • Yolo County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)—see El Dorado County description
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Keeping it
Green A
t Nugget Markets, we like to SEE sustainability every day! If you’re not already familiar with the acronym, SEE stands for:
• Social Responsibility Taking care of people
• Environmental Stewardship Taking care of the planet
• Economic Vitality
Taking care of business (sustainably speaking)
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Our Sustainability Coordinator, Danielle Millar, and our team of Green Gurus help us improve our environmental impact through eco-friendly actions like saving water, reducing energy usage, composting and donating food to local food banks. You can find out more about how we’re working towards a greener, more sustainable future at nuggetmarket.com/sustainability!
In Full Bloom Did you know EIGHT of our stores are outfitted with Bloom Energy fuel cells? That means clean fuel cell energy is now powering Stores #1, 2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 17 and 30! This is a huge milestone because it means we’re no longer dependent on PG&E for electricity at these locations. So, in the event of a power outage, these stores will continue to operate business as usual—no need for portable generators or scrambling to protect perishable products! Even better, the electricity we produce is certified clean energy by the California Air Resources Board and is free from harmful emissions!
Check out these fun facts to put it in perspective:
Earth Month Extravaganza Earth Day may only be one day a year, but that didn’t stop us from celebrating all month long! Along with our annual Associate Green Pledge Challenge, our Green Gurus also hosted fun and informative tabling events at different stores every Friday in April so guests could learn more about sustainability.
Generating our own power with Bloom Energy eliminates 4.6 million pounds of CO2 from the environment annually. That is the equivalent of removing 438 cars from the road, saving 225,000 gallons of gasoline and growing 2,300 acres of forest annually!
Our fuel cells will generate a total of 16.4 BILLION watts of electricity annually. That’s enough electricity to power all eight stores 24/7 all year long with a little extra going back to the grid for use by PG&E.
A billion watts of electricity is also called a gigawatt. For you “Back to the Future” fans, it takes 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to power a flux capacitor, which means we could also power 13 DeLorean time machines. Great Scott!
LESS IS MORE
Waste:
Energy:
Water:
See how much we reduced our waste and energy and water usage year over year!
2020: 2,214 tons
2020: 27,595,319 kWh
2020: 47,117,510 gallons
2021: 2,147 tons
2021: 26,306,099 kWh
2021: 36,733,123 gallons
Total Decrease: 3%
Total Decrease: 5%
Total Decrease: 22%
2022 |
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Culture CHRONICLES
5
CORE VALUES
COMPANY GOALS
RAVE
GUEST SATISFACTION
FAMILY
CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT
FUN POSITIVE ATTITUDE
WORLD-CLASS EMPLOYER
TRUST
5
BASICS TO INCREASE SALES
QUALITY CLEANLINESS & SAFETY STOCK LEVEL SIGNAGE & ACCURATE PRICING GUEST SATISFACTION
MISSION STATEMENT We are a family of dedicated people with a love of food and a passion for excellent service. We are committed to constant improvement, our people, and most importantly, guest satisfaction. Our associates are our competitive edge —
NUGGET MARKET, INC. • 2022 80 |
Culture Chronicles
| SUMMER 2022
superior quality and great prices are just part of the bargain.