UNFI Launches Innovative E-commerce Solution to Expand Distribution Options for Emerging Suppliers
April 07 2021 - 7:45AM
Business Wire
Community Marketplace allows suppliers of
any size to sell products on UNFI’s Easy Options website and ship
directly to UNFI customers
United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI), today announced the
launch of Community Marketplace by UNFI, a business-to-business
digital e-commerce solution for emerging brands looking to expand
distribution with UNFI customers. Community Marketplace modernizes
the way brands interact with grocery wholesalers by allowing
thousands of emerging products not currently available at UNFI
distribution centers to be ordered on UNFI’s Easy Options website
and shipped directly to retail customers across the United
States.
Through this virtual marketplace, suppliers gain immediate
access to UNFI’s digital infrastructure to promote and sell their
products to UNFI’s broad customer base. Approved suppliers keep
complete control of their inventory, order management, pricing, and
shipping charges while attaining trial for possible traditional
distribution expansion in the UNFI network. In turn, UNFI customers
gain access to an even broader assortment of unique and local items
with flexible order sizes and the convenience of ordering from
multiple sources online in one place. Businesses looking to become
an approved Community Marketplace supplier can apply at
https://unfieasyoptions.com/about-community-marketplace.
“Access to the largest assortment of available items is an area
of increasing importance to our customers, and Community
Marketplace delivers on this need while giving brands an
easy-to-use platform to gain the speed, scale, and agility to win
in today’s marketplace,” said Tom Kraus, vice president of
e-commerce at UNFI. “By fully integrating Community Marketplace
with our Easy Options website, we now have an industry leading tool
for our customers to better connect with suppliers to provide their
local communities with the widest variety of on-trend and emerging
natural and conventional products.”
UNFI Easy Options is available to a variety of businesses,
including independent grocery retailers, convenience stores,
natural food and supplement stores, and restaurants. Through the
website, customers of all sizes have access to over 20,000 grocery
and wellness items that are fulfilled from UNFI’s distribution
network without minimum order sizes, order frequency requirements,
or membership fees. Currently, hundreds of Community Marketplace
SKUs are available through the Easy Options site, but with strong
interest from the supplier community, customers should check back
often as the variety of products will continue to grow as more
vendors participate in this innovative distribution outlet.
About United Natural Foods
UNFI is North America's premier food wholesaler delivering the
widest variety of products to customer locations throughout North
America including natural product superstores, independent
retailers, conventional supermarket chains, ecommerce retailers and
food service customers. By providing this deeper 'full-store'
selection and compelling brands for every aisle, UNFI is uniquely
positioned to deliver great food, more choices and fresh thinking
to customers everywhere. Today, UNFI is the largest publicly traded
grocery distributor in the United States. To learn more about how
UNFI is Moving Food Forward, visit www.unfi.com.
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Investor Contact Steve Bloomquist 952-828-4144
steve.j.bloomquist@unfi.com
Media Contact Jeff Swanson 952-903-1645
jeffrey.s.swanson@unfi.com
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