SproutsCon 2024 | That’s A Wrap!

 

SproutsCon 2024 was a magical weekend together in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World with our Store Managers, Vitamin Managers, Produce Managers, and (for the first time ever!) Deli Managers. The team spent September 20-22^nd together at the Swan and Dolphin resort learning about our purpose – we help people live and eat better.

But what happens at SproutsCon, doesn’t stay at SproutsCon! From inspiring keynote speakers to engaging breakout sessions, leaders learned ways to dive deeper with their teams, bringing coaching concepts to life. SproutsCon is just the beginning!

Here is a quick snapshot of what happened over the weekend:

We rolled out the green carpet for SproutsCon attendees on Friday! With a first look at our purpose statement, team members were invited to share how they help live our purpose at Sprouts on post its. A mural artist took the post it notes and brought them to life on stage over the weekend.

Starting Friday, team members were invited to visit Activation Booths to explore new ideas and initiatives from Sprouts Brand, Foraging, The Orchard, Ecommerce, Information Technology, Foundation, and more!

Our stores have always helped their customers and communities live and eat better. Jack Sinclair, our CEO, started off Saturday morning by sharing a conversation he had with Stan Boney, the son of Henry Boney. Stan opened the first Spouts Farmers Market with his son, Shon, in 2002. Our stores have cared about the quality and uniqueness of our product offerings from the very start. To hear the whole conversation on the origin of our purpose, click here.

Nick Konat, our COO, and Dustin Hamilton, our CSO, talked about our purpose, this is our “why”. Understanding how we each connect to our shared purpose will shape the important work we do each day.  They discussed how our team members bring our purpose to life because we care, own it and love being different.

There was an exciting cameo from Darth Vader (a.k.a. Curtis Valentine, our CFO) to discuss how the company is performing financially but luckily Luke Skywalker (a.k.a. Nick Konat, our COO) came to the rescue!

Jay Shetty, founder of Juni Sparkling Drinks, and well-known comedian, podcaster, etc. was our featured keynote speaker on Saturday before we headed off to the vendor tradeshow. Jay got us up on our feet and talked about perspective and purpose.

Kim Coffin, our Chief Forager, invited three vendors to the stage: Wild Society Nutrition, Anew Water, and Mama Bird. These vendors participated in a Shark Tank style Pitch Slam covering their purpose and product. By participating in a live Pitch Slam, each of these vendors were competing for a spot on our shelves. Our team members voted and Anew Water, a reusable and renewable alternative to single use water bottles, was selected as the winner!

Team members had Saturday afternoon to network with our vendors at the tradeshow! Vendors from each category were excited to join us this year at SproutsCon – produce, grocery, vitamins, deli – you name it! Sprouties were excited to connect with the products that make our stores unique!

We got spirit? Yeah! From a Galaxy Far Far Away to Neverland, our districts showed off their creativity at Saturday Night’s Dinner & Awards Ceremony in their Best of Disney attire.

After dinner, we held our annual awards ceremony. For more information on award winners, click here.

We saved the best of SproutsCon for last! On Sunday, we started off our morning with an open Q&A session with our Executive Leadership Team and a giant check presentation from our Foundation to a local nonprofit, Hebni Nutrition Consultants in Orlando, FL. Hebni will use the Foundation’s $250,000 donation to expand their Fresh Stop Mobile Market, a repurposed bus created to serve underserved neighborhoods. To learn more about Hebni, click here.

Store managers and department managers then made their way to breakout sessions – covering topics related to their roles and diving deeper into coaching skills they can take back to their store teams.

In our closing session, we heard from our last keynote speaker, Eric Boles who talked unleashing your potential and the potential of those around us. Even oak trees start as an acorn!

Dustin Hamilton closed out our action-packed weekend and spoke on how purpose is a critical component of our long-term success. It’s not just about what we do but why we do it.  When we feel inspired to live our purpose and devote time to coaching each day, our customers feel our commitment to first-class customer service. At Sprouts, we help people live and eat better.

Be on the lookout for more SproutsCon resources, coming soon to the Vine!