Sauders Store on River Road in Seneca Falls is the most decorated grocery and health food operation in the FLX Finest awards — eight awards across four years, including Gold for Grocery in 2023 and 2025, Gold for Health Food in 2022 and 2024, and Silver in the corresponding alternate categories every year. That level of sustained, cross-category dominance does not happen by accident. Sauders bridges two worlds: it is a full-service grocery where you can do a complete weekly shop, and it is a health food store with the kind of organic, gluten-free, and non-GMO selection that health-conscious shoppers normally have to drive to a city to find.

The store's roots in the local Mennonite and farming community inform its sourcing philosophy — bulk goods, minimal packaging, direct relationships with regional producers, and prices that stay reasonable despite the specialty nature of many products. The selection is genuinely extensive, covering dietary needs from celiac to vegan to paleo without making any of them feel like an afterthought. For Finger Lakes visitors, Sauders is one of those discoveries that reshapes your impression of the region. You expect wineries and farm stands; you do not necessarily expect a rural grocery store with a health food section that rivals stores in Brooklyn or Burlington. Sauders delivers exactly that, and the voters know it.