United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is a

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

–based natural and organic food company. The largest

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

wholesale distributor of

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

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 IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...

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

Safeway Inc. Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...

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 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. 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

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