United Natural Foods, Incorporated, also known as UNFI, is a distributor of natural and organic foods, specialty foods, and related products in the United States and Canada. The company distributes to grocery and natural food stores and is the primary distributor to Whole Foods Market. UNFI offers dry, refrigerated and frozen groceries, personal care products, supplements, fresh produce, perishables, and non-food items such as household cleaning products. It made the Fortune 500 list in 2016.
UNFI has a focus on corporate social responsibility. Examples include construction and renovation projects that achieve LEED certification. In 2016, UNFI was named to Food Logistics' 2016 Top Green Providers list. The corporation supports the Just Label It! movement that calls for the labeling of genetically modified and engineered foods. The UNFI Foundation is UNFI's charitable arm, which supports healthy and organic food systems.
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. Since 1996, other regional distributors have merged with UNFI, filling in the distribution footprint and making UNFI the largest distributor of natural products. In 2007 UNFI added specialty products distribution through the acquisition of Millbrook Distribution Services. In 2011, UNFI signed a distribution agreement with Safeway Inc. for the distribution of non-proprietary natural, organic and specialty products, making Safeway their second largest customer after Whole Foods. This agreement was terminated by Safeway in July, 2015, leading to a drop in share price and two rounds of layoffs, their first in the history of the company. In 2012 UNFI partnered with Buyer's Best Friend to create a unified reordering system. In 2016, the company announced the acquisition of Nor-Cal produce, Inc. It also completed the acquisition of Haddon House Food Products, Inc. in 2016. That same year, it announced the acquisition of Gourmet Guru, Inc. In early 2016, UNFI worried investors by disclosing that it missed Wall Street's expectations.
Organization
In addition to distribution operations, UNFI also operates the following divisions:
- Woodstock Farms Manufacturing
- Albert's Organics
- Select Nutrition
- UNFI Canada
- Honest Green
- Tony's Fine Foods
- Blue Marble Brands
- Gourmet Guru
- Haddon House Specialty Foods
- Nor-Cal Produce
See also
References
