UNFI Extends Partnership With National Co+op Grocers

United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) is the primary grocery wholesaler and national distributor for National Co+op Grocers (NCG)-affiliated retail food co-ops, and a new long-term supply agreement extension has expanded this relationship. 

NCG and UNFI will focus on numerous business development initiatives resulting from UNFI’s expanded offering, providing NCG’s 147 member co-ops access to more than 250,000 SKUs of natural, organic, conventional, specialty, bulk and wellness products, including the addition of UNFI’s Brands+ private label portfolio.

“NCG is one of the most distinguished purchasing co-ops in the nation, and our team has taken great pride in helping optimize operational efficiencies and purchasing power for NCG member co-ops while providing top-quality customer service,” said Chris Testa, UNFI's president and chief marketing officer. “We have a strong history and relationship with NCG and are thrilled they are part of our UNFI customer family. We look forward to helping them be even better positioned for future growth.”

UNFI and NCG have worked together since NCG was founded in 1999.

“UNFI’s scale and ability to service our 147 member co-ops across 38 states with a tremendous portfolio of natural, conventional and private-brand products helps ensure our members are successful and supports the continued growth of the cooperative grocery sector,” said C.E. Pugh, CEO of Iowa City, Iowa-based National Co+op Grocers. “UNFI has always had a strong leadership position in the natural channel and is now able to help us better position our stores with an expanded offering, new product categories and more operational support. We’re looking forward to continuing our relationship with UNFI and leveraging their increased scale in the future.”

Providence, Rhode Island-based UNFI delivers a wide variety of products to customer locations throughout North America, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, ecommerce retailers, and foodservice customers. The largest publicly traded grocery distributor in America, UNFI is No. 61 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s list of the top food retailers in North America.