Companies Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (NGVC): executive pay, fiscal 2025
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Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage's highest-paid named officer for fiscal year 2025, Chief Financial Officer Richard Hallé, was paid $6,802,192 · source
Executives and directors
Frequently asked questions
Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.
Full detail
Every table from the filing. Open any section.
Summary compensation table
| Named executive officer | Salary | Bonus | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Pension / NQDC | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Hallé | $559,746 | $567,500 | $5,673,050 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,895 | $6,802,192 |
| Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| Elizabeth Isely | 540,000 | 365,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,438 | 909,438 |
| Executive Vice President | ||||||||
| Zephyr Isely | 588,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 588,000 |
| Co-President | ||||||||
| Todd Dissinger | 135,485 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,734 | 155,219 |
| former Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.
Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive
| Named executive officer | FY2025 total | FY2024 total | FY2023 total | Δ FY2024→2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Hallé | $6,802,192 | — | — | — |
| Elizabeth Isely | 909,438 | 918,228 | — | ↓ −8,790 |
| Zephyr Isely | 588,000 | 593,159 | 581,044 | ↓ −5,159 |
| Todd Dissinger | 155,219 | 965,854 | 1,337,015 | ↓ −810,635 |
Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.
Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis
Our compensation philosophy is to provide our NEOs with a compensation package that attracts, motivates and retains executive talent and aligns the interests of management with those of our stockholders.
| CEO STI target (% of salary) | — |
|---|---|
| CEO LTI target (% of salary) | — |
| Independent consultant | FW Cook |
| Clawback policy | true |
| Anti-hedging | — |
| Anti-pledging | — |
Equity grants and outstanding awards
No plan-based awards are on file for this fiscal year.
Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025
| Executive | Award | Shares unvested | Exercise price | Market value unvested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Hallé | RSU | 200,000 | — | $8,000,000 |
Director compensation
| Director | Cash fees | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | All other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David RooneyIndependent · Audit Committee (Chair) | $55,000 | $60,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $115,000 |
| Edward CerkovnikIndependent · Audit Committee · Compensation Committee | 50,000 | 60,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 110,000 |
| Sandra BuffaIndependent · Audit Committee · Compensation Committee | 49,583 | 60,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109,583 |
| Richard HalléIndependent · Audit · Compensation · Departed during FY | 4,167 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,167 |
| Elizabeth IselyEmployee director | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| Kemper IselyEmployee director · Board Chair · Compensation Committee | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| Heather IselyEmployee director | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| Zephyr IselyEmployee director · Compensation Committee (Chair) | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
Board fee structure and ownership guideline
| Annual cash retainer | $40,000 |
|---|---|
| Annual equity retainer | $60,000 |
| Per board meeting fee | — |
| Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov) | 15,000 / 10,000 |
| Stock ownership guideline | $3 |
Total cost of the board
| Component | FY2025 |
|---|---|
| Cash retainers and fees | $158,750 |
| Equity awards (grant-date value) | $180,000 |
| All other compensation | $0 |
| Total cost of the board | $338,750 |
Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.
Peer group, and who names Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage as a peer
Companies that benchmark against NGVC
No companies currently name NGVC as a compensation peer in their most recent disclosure.
This is the complete answer, not a partial one — the list is never padded.
Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025
The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.
Chief executive pay against the peer group
Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company’s own proxy statement.
| Rank | Company | FY | Chief executive | Salary | Stock awards | Option awards | Non-equity incentive | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage | 2025 | Richard Hallé | $559,746 | $5,673,050 | $0 | $0 | $6,802,192 |
Each peer’s compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer’s figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.
Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
| Meeting year | Meeting date | For | Against | Abstain | Support | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2024-03-06 | 20,401,188 | 107,047 | 22,910 | 99.48% | Passed |
| 2021 | 2021-03-03 | 20,267,531 | 87,442 | 13,303 | 99.57% | Passed |
| 2018 | 2018-03-07 | 17,691,546 | 51,266 | 15,899 | 99.71% | Passed |
Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year’s compensation.
Say-on-pay — history, company’s computation
| Meeting year | Meeting date | Approval — company’s computation |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2024-03-06 | 99.48%a |
| 2021 | 2021-03-03 | 99.57%b |
| 2018 | 2018-03-07 | 99.71%c |
a. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of the votes on any of the proposals.”.
b. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of the votes on any of the proposals.”.
c. Approved under the standard stated in the filing — “Abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of the votes on any of the proposals.”.
Approval percentages are the company’s own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.
CEO pay ratio
| Ratio (CEO : median employee) | 22 : 1 |
|---|---|
| CEO total compensation | $620,335 |
| Median employee compensation | $28,756 |
Insider trades since the proxy
No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.
Sources (19 citations)
Each figure is listed with the filing it comes from, where it appears in that filing, and the value as printed. Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.
- Section 01, Richard Hallé. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 6,802,192. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Elizabeth Isely. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 909,438. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Zephyr Isely. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 588,000. View filing ↗
- Section 01, Todd Dissinger. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 155,219. View filing ↗
- Section 07, pay ratio. DEF 14A, filed 2020-01-17. Section “CEO Pay Ratio”. As printed: 22 : 1. View filing ↗
- Section 08, David Rooney. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 115,000. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Edward Cerkovnik. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 110,000. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Sandra Buffa. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 109,583. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Richard Hallé. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 4,167. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Elizabeth Isely. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Kemper Isely. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Heather Isely. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 08, Zephyr Isely. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-03-12. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.48% (votes for as printed: 20,401,188). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2021 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2021-03-09. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.57% (votes for as printed: 20,267,531). View filing ↗
- Section 06, 2018 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2018-03-09. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99.71% (votes for as printed: 17,691,546). View filing ↗
- Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed). Computed. Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
- Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 158,750 + equity 180,000 + all other 0 = 338,750, summed across the director compensation table rows.
- Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-01-22. CEO total compensation as printed in Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage's own proxy. As printed: 6,802,192. View filing ↗