United Natural Foods

United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is a Providence, Rhode Island–based natural and organic food company. The largest publicly traded wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in the United States and Canada,[3][4] it is Whole Foods Market's main supplier, with their traffic making up over a third of its revenue in 2018.[5]

United Natural Foods, Inc.
TypePublic
IndustryFood Wholesale/Distribution
Founded1976
Headquarters
Providence, RI
,
United States
Area served
United States, Canada
Key people
J. Alexander (Sandy) Miller Douglas (CEO)[1]
Eric Dorne (COO)
Productswholesale natural, organic, ethnic and gourmet, grocery, produce, perishables, personal care, and supplements.
RevenueIncrease US$27 billion
Increase US$241.96 million (2015)
Number of employees
28,300 [2] (2021)
DivisionsAlberts Fresh Produce
Honest Green eSolutions
Nor-Cal Produce
Tony’s Fine Foods
UNFI Brands+
UNFI Canada
UNFI Easy Options
UNFI Wellness
Woodstock Farms
Websiteunfi.com

History

UNFI was founded in 1996 by the merger of two regional distributors, Mountain People's Warehouse (founded in 1976, serving the Western U.S.) and Cornucopia Natural Foods (founded in 1977, serving the Eastern U.S.), forming the first natural products distributorship with national scope.[6] Since 1996, other regional distributors have merged with UNFI, filling in the distribution footprint and making UNFI the largest distributor of natural products.[7]

In 2007, UNFI acquired Millbrook Distribution Services.[8] In 2011, UNFI signed a distribution agreement with Safeway Inc. for the distribution of non-proprietary natural, organic and specialty products.[9] This agreement was terminated by Safeway in July, 2015,[10] leading to a drop in share price and two rounds of layoffs, the first in the company's history.

In 2012, UNFI partnered with Buyer's Best Friend to create a unified reordering system.[11] In 2016, the company announced the acquisition of Nor-Cal produce, Inc.[12] It also completed the acquisition of Haddon House Food Products, Inc. in 2016.[13] That same year, it announced the acquisition of Gourmet Guru, Inc.[14] On October 22, 2018, UNFI completed the acquisition of SuperValu, Inc.[15]

Divisions
  • UNFI Canada
  • Alberts Fresh Produce
  • Tony's Fine Foods
  • Nor-Cal Produce
  • UNFI Wellness
  • Woodstock Farms
  • UNFI Brands+
  • Honest Green eSolutions
  • UNFI Easy Options

Brands
  • Essential Everyday
  • Woodstock
  • Wild Harvest
  • Equaline
  • Tumaro's Carb Wise Wraps
  • Field Day
  • Shoppers Value
  • Asian Gourmet
  • Culinary Circle
  • Stone Ridge Creamery
  • Mt Vikos
  • Super Chill
  • Arctic Shores
  • Springfield
  • Koyo

References
  1. "UNFI Announces Appointments of Sandy Douglas as Chief Executive Officer and Jack Stahl as Independent Chair of the Board". UNFI.com. 28 July 2021.
  2. "United Natural Foods company profile". Craft.
  3. "UNFI Becomes a Distributor of KOIOS™ and Fit Soda™ Functional Beverages" (Press release). Denver and Vancouver, British Columbia: Koios Beverage Corp. Globe Newswire. February 10, 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  4. "UNFI Reaches Definitive Agreements to Sell 13 Shoppers Food Stores" (Press release). Providence, R.I.: United Natural Foods, Inc. PRNewswire. December 6, 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  5. Kim, Eugene (March 7, 2018). "Amazon has committed to roughly $22 billion in future food purchases as it bulks up Whole Foods". CNBC.
  6. Klingler, Desmond (2015-02-21). 21st Century Homestead: Organic Food. Lulu.com. ISBN 9781312937598.
  7. "UNFI Grows With the Organic and Natural Food Market - Clean Yield". www.cleanyield.com. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  8. "UNFI to acquire Millbrook". New Hope. 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  9. "UNFI Signs Up Safeway". supermarketnews.com. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  10. Kaplan, Jennifer (2015-07-21). "United Natural Foods Plunges as Albertsons Contract Canceled". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  11. "UNFI, Buyer's Best Friend Create Reordering System". ProgressiveGrocer. 2012-06-21. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  12. "UNFI acquires California produce distributor". supermarketnews.com. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  13. "United Natural Foods to acquire Haddon House for $217.5 million". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  14. "United Natural Foods (UNFI) Acquires Gourmet Guru". StreetInsider.com. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  15. Inc, United Natural Foods. "UNFI Completes Transformative Acquisition Of SUPERVALU". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2019-12-10. {{cite press release}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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