beauty team leader

food & beverage team leader

member services representative

department manager

grocery associate

Natures Fare Markets

I worked as a cashier for several years at the Kelowna location; prior to 2022, I found it to be quite a pleasant place to work. However, the work environment increasingly became a toxic and stressful work environment as management fails to communicate at all with the cash team and since the previous cash manager has been on an extended leave (management won’t address if this person will be returning) in 2022 and there is no one to manage and organize the front, it’s become chaotic and frustrating to say the least. Management has been made keenly aware of issues but has failed to address any of the issues. Most of the staff that have worked there for years continue to quit as management seems to actually treat loyal, long term staff poorly and yet turn their eyes when they are informed of a few employees who don’t put in any effort and gossip about other staff and customers. Human Resources did nothing to help the situation.

It’s a shame as this was a lovely place to work previously but it’s seriously going down the tubes! The only benefits are that most of the staff and customer base is great. However, it certainly is not worth the ridiculous demands and lack of communication coming from management. Customers began complaining to cashiers about the lack of staff, disorganization and inappropriate behaviour of a couple of cashiers but management has now removed the suggestion box that was up front for years as it seems they don’t want to hear about customers’ valid issues. Management was informed of egregious behaviour of a couple of employees but failed to address this behaviour; in fact, one of these employees made it known they received a large raise when the hey threatened to quit and seems to get away with offensive and misogynistic behaviour. Very disappointing.

Natures Fare claims to be a “B corporation” but they clearly do not uphold themselves to those standards. You’ll go for an interview and they will paint a picture of healthy eating, good benefits, and a “fun work environment”. While yes staff are granted a 20% discount, which further increases to 25% after a year, it’s really not even that useful as everything is astronomically expensive to begin with. For example, yogurt that runs for $23, honey for over $70.. the list goes on. The work environment is toxic. While the sales staff are amazing and I have to say I got along with them very well, the management team definitely need drastic improvement. This issue is they hired on this manager from Whole Foods, and then he hired his former colleague as the grocery manager. You have to realize Whole Foods is not a B corporation, and they definitely run things very differently. That being said, walking into a company and trying to reinvent the wheel after sales staff have been with the company for many years isn’t going to sit well, and it effects everyone, (new staff included). The management team is honestly toxic, unprofessional, and downright evil. Half the time they won’t even acknowledge your presence, when clocking in and out of work. I always tried my best to kill them with kindness but that clearly didn’t get me very far. They’ll openly sit around in their offices bad mouthing sales staff and further inflicting drama between staff. Some of the things that I overheard while standing outside the office were absolutely appalling. I’m going to tell you this right now, if you think you have thick skin and have worked every nightmare customer service job imaginable think again! This workplace will absolutely eat you alive. Good luck. :)

Nature’s Fare prides themselves on having high standards of ethics and amazing core values, but they really fall short when they try to execute them. Frankly they don’t care about their staff, more often than not staff will actually cry because of management. You will be gossiped about by other staff and management. I highly recommend you know your rights as an employee if you do apply here, because management takes things too far. Management makes inappropriate comments and when complaints are brought forward they aren’t taken seriously. There is no job security as management feels everyone is replaceable no matter how hard you work. If sales are ever down management will immediately blame staff for not doing enough. Of course there are employees at natures fare who don’t work as hard as others but the employees who truly care for the company and work hard go unnoticed and unappreciated. As an employee you will be expected to be available every day and your days off will be picked for you. Sometimes staff will even be scheduled more than five days a week. I believe the company as a whole has good values and ethics but the Langley store is neglected. Overall it’s not worth the above minimum pay.

After being acquired by Buy-Low Foods, Nature's Fare has taken a dive. What began as an independent alternative grocery and health food store is now the same copy-paste formula of corporate chains that only care about one thing at the end of the day: their bottom line.

This became painfully obvious during the pandemic, where the comfort of science-skeptical customers were prioritized over the health and safety of employees. No effort was put forth by management to stem the tide of unmasked, sometimes sick customers into the store during provincial mask mandates.

Nature's Fare has lost everything that once gave it value to the community. They are no longer B-Certified, they no longer offer an exclusive arrangement of products and they will continue to chip away at employee perks until they are unable to attract the dedicated workers that they once had.

I would still recommend this job as a part-time gig for students, as it is not overly demanding and pays a few dollars more than minimum wage (if they are still doing that).

Remember that whoever is leaving employer's responses is being paid  to give the appearance of responsible leadership. Recognize it for what it is - corporate drivel.

The one thing I liked most about working there was some of the coworkers and a couple managers. 

Some of the people that worked there really enjoyed micro managing departments they don't work under. 

There was fairly clear favouritism happening as well, which wasn't fun to work with. They always talked about how "we're a family here", but most of the time, it didn't really feel that way. There was a lot of tension everywhere between coworkers. Plus, the place was always under staffed.

There were a couple coworkers I loved dearly and I hope are doing well. They made my time there enjoyable.

Some customers were pretentious and would act like they're above you, which was really annoying. They would also act like they know more than you, or just are better than you for some reason. This was way more prevalent during COVID. They had "the customer is always right" bad attitude.

Overall, it's a job. Not great, but not the worst. As long as you can handle the stuff listed above.

i have worked for this company for five years. the management is honestly so horrible - they work the employees to exhaustion, while they just sit in their offices talking and even scrolling facebook. they legitimately bully the workers to tears, and make up little jokes about them, and say that they can't teach the staff anything. they do not manage or monitor the staff at all. it was actually so abusive. i can see all the responses from nature's fare head office to the bad reviews here, saying that they wish they had known, but the truth is, they do know, lots of staff tried to have these issues addressed, but they just say they will help and then do nothing at all. the management will push out or bully or even fire anyone who tries to have the toxic culture addressed. i saw people try to get help from human resources and not even get a response back. they put out a lot of propaganda about what a great company they are, but it's extremely toxic culture at management level.

Despite all they state in their values about caring for people first, they treat staff as dispensable objects. The first two years I worked here were a dream come true, but as the company got bigger, it became more and more corporate while trying to say that they still cared about being a local business. Management doesn't take staff complaints seriously, and I found myself and my coworkers were constantly belittled and patronized. The treatment I recieved from management brought me to a point that I considered suicide as a means of escaping the toxic culture. Even after I and several others went to HR for help, our needs were left wanting and nothing was ever fixed. 
The only thing I miss are the people who became dear friends. Even though I'm not there anymore, I still have nightmares about working there.

for the most part days are fast paced, you're always busy and if its a slow day there are checklists that have to be fulfilled. 
employees are diverse and from all cultures making it an enlightening place to work as you can learn more about different cultures while getting to know your coworkers. 
management says they care, but they really don't, unless your not doing something perfectly, then you'll hear about it. if you can stay out of their way the job is quite enjoyable.
probably my favorite thing, personalized customer service. there are so many repeat customers you get to learn names and walks of life. having meaningful conversations while doing your job was nice and even remembering what preferences they prefer was both fun and challenging. 
pay was fair and benefits were easy to obtain.

Natures Fare Markets proclaims  themselves a B Corp but it is very much not the case.  I worked 3 long years there and the only thing keeping most people including me there was the higher then average wage,   but it is a very toxic work environment.  Natures Fare holds work longevity over work ethics.  As a few people work hard most stand around talking,  and gossiping and this includes the management.  The management staff creates much of the drama between staff and perpetuate it.  They care only about making sales and facing product and not their staff.  Many feel replaceable and not appreciated.  When the Head Office management visit they do not acknowledge sales staff at all.

Very fast paced with lots of memorization and customer service. Great clientele but staff sucks. You will get in trouble over every little thing and co workers will try to get you in trouble over anything. Very cliquey, especially in the vitamin department, and they never answer phones or show interest in helping rest of store. Mostly stand and gossip, especially at night when it is dead. Most coporate 'local' job you will ever work. I loved being a customer here from the early 2000's until I saw the other side of the store. No room to express yourself or add fun to your routine. Lots of sick calls from staff and you will be called in for every day you are not working, and asked to extend shifts. No room for work life balance.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Beauty team leader 25 salaries reported	$20.76 per hour
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Member services representative 29 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Department manager 5 salaries reported	$26.05 per hour
Grocery associate 22 salaries reported	$19.18 per hour

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