United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is a

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

–based natural and

organic food Organic food, also known as ecological or biological food, refers to foods and beverages produced using methods that comply with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resou ...

company. The largest

publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

wholesale distributor of

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

specialty food A specialty food is a food that is typically considered as a "unique and high-value food item made in small quantities from high-quality ingredients". Consumers typically pay higher prices for specialty foods, and may perceive them as having variou ...

in the United States and Canada, it is

Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market, Inc. (colloquially referred to as simply Whole Foods) is an American multinational supermarket chain store, chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from Hydrogenated fat, hydrogenated fats and artificia ...

's main supplier, with their traffic making up over a third of its revenue in 2018.

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. The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

)—forming the first

natural product A natural product is a natural compound or substance produced by a living organism—that is, found in nature. In the broadest sense, natural products include any substance produced by life. Natural products can also be prepared by chemical s ...

s 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 acquired Millbrook Distribution Services. In 2011, UNFI signed a distribution agreement with

Safeway Inc. Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

for the distribution of non-proprietary natural, organic and specialty products. This agreement was terminated by Safeway in July 2015, leading to a drop in

share price A share price is the price of a single share of a number of saleable equity shares of a company. In layman's terms, the stock price is the highest amount someone is willing to pay for the stock, or the lowest amount that it can be bought for. B ...

and two rounds of

layoff A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization ...

s, the first in the company's history. In 2012, UNFI partnered with Buyer's Best Friend to create a unified reordering system. In 2016, the company completed the acquisition of Nor-Cal produce, Inc., Haddon House Food Products, Inc., and Gourmet Guru, Inc. On October 22, 2018, UNFI completed the acquisition of SuperValu, Inc.

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 * Bio Pac * Oasis

References

{{reflist Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Providence, Rhode Island Organic farming organizations American companies established in 1996 1996 establishments in Rhode Island