United Natural Foods Releases Better for All Report for Fiscal Year 2022
January 09 2023 - 04:15PM
Business Wire
Spotlights launch of Climate Action Hub aligned
with validated science-based targets and full value chain approach
to climate action
Discloses progress toward goals including waste
reduction, supplier diversity, food donations, and food safety
United Natural Foods, Inc., (NYSE: UNFI) (the “Company” or
“UNFI”) today released its annual Better for All Report, which
details UNFI’s progress toward its Environmental, Social, and
Governance (ESG) commitments during the Company’s 2022 fiscal year,
which ended July 30, 2022. In its 12th year of environmental and
social reporting, UNFI reported progress in nine impact focus areas
consisting of Customer Health & Safety, Energy Efficiency,
Governance, Associate Safety & Well-Being, Climate Action,
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI), Community Development,
Responsible Procurement, and Waste Reduction. This year, the
Company launched three new science-based targets, bringing its
total goals to 15 across its entire Better for All strategy.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005845/en/
UNFI associates spend time volunteering
with UNFI Foundation partner FoodShare Toronto. During the
Company’s 2022 fiscal year, UNFI associates logged a 35 percent
increase in volunteer hours. (Photo: Business Wire)
UNFI’s Better for All strategy continues to focus on proactively
engaging with the people growing, making, and moving the products
the Company distributes. As highlighted in this year’s report,
engagement efforts include new customer surveys, continued
conversations with investors, and cross-functional efforts to
respond to associate feedback for additional DEI and associate
wellbeing initiatives. The Company also proactively engaged with
suppliers, including making investments in platforms such as UNFI’s
recently launched Climate Action Hub, marking the first step in a
more collaborative approach to address some of today’s most
critical issues.
In its fiscal year 2022, UNFI reported the following milestones
in support of its goal to build a food system that is better for
its people, its communities, and the planet, resulting from
ambitious and innovative efforts across the Company:
- Launched the Climate Action Hub, starting with the release of
the Climate Action Guide for Business – a free resource for
suppliers.
- Created the UNFI Foundation Food Equity Grant, awarding the
Southside Community Land Trust in Providence, R.I. $100,000 to help
promote food equity, eliminate hunger, and improve public
health.
- Doubled year-over-year spend with diverse suppliers as a result
of a clarified action plan to better identify, source, and assist
diverse suppliers with certification and planning needed to grow
their business with UNFI.
- Launched the installation of a roof-mounted solar array at
UNFI’s distribution center in Howell, N.J., the Company’s largest
to date.
- Completed a waste audit and kicked off an active audit for all
owned brands retail packaging to enable sustainability progression
across our brands portfolio.
- Recognized as one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+
Equality” and one of the “Best Places to Work for Disability
Inclusion.”
- Launched a new monthly campaign, called Difference Maker
Spotlight, to highlight associates’ contributions to Better for All
via their everyday responsibilities.
“In the past year we’ve made a focused effort to holistically
integrate our Better for All strategy throughout the organization,
as well as proactively engage our stakeholders, from our associates
to our supply chain partners, on issues from climate to food equity
to DEI,” said UNFI Chief Executive Officer, Sandy Douglas. “That
approach has yielded some meaningful achievements this year and, in
several areas, also allowed us to establish the organizational
structures and processes needed to make progress against future
goals. While we are proud of the progress we have made, we
recognize that in many ways we are just at the beginning of our
journey and that there is much more to be done. We look forward to
continuing this important work in the coming years.”
Climate Action Teamwork
The launch of the Climate Action Hub comes after almost two
years of partnership with the Climate Collaborative, a community of
businesses joining forces to create pathways to action and working
together to create solutions on climate. The new platform offers
UNFI suppliers a variety of tools and resources, including
opportunities for suppliers and partners to learn from experts and
each other, to innovate, and scale climate solutions across the
food system. Additionally, the Company has made its Climate Action
Guide for Business, which offers step-by-step guidance for how to
measure and disclose impact, commit to ambitious targets, and
identify opportunities for action, available to everyone for free
with the hopes of fast-tracking collective action toward a
decarbonized future.
“Approximately 97 percent of UNFI’s total emissions are a result
of our upstream supply chain, which is why we are committed to
empowering our suppliers to take climate action. As one of the
country’s largest wholesalers, we are a connector between retail,
brands, and communities and our leadership and education to others
can help amplify the important role we all play in making a
positive impact on our climate,” said Alisha Real, UNFI’s Vice
President of ESG & Social Impact. “With the validation of our
science-based targets this year, we are ready to accelerate our
action and lead by example to support our communities and the
planet.”
The annual edition of the report, which can be read at the newly
updated BetterForAll.UNFI.com, is guided by leading internationally
recognized frameworks, including Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). For added
transparency, stakeholders looking for GRI and SASB reporting can
find respective indices in the report’s appendix. The report also
includes the Company’s disclosure aligned to recommendations of the
Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures.
About UNFI
UNFI is North America's premier grocery wholesaler delivering
the widest variety of fresh, branded, and owned brand products to
more than 30,000 locations throughout North America, including
natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional
supermarket chains, ecommerce providers, and food service
customers. UNFI also provides a broad range of value-added services
and segmented marketing expertise, including proprietary
technology, data, market insights, and shelf management to help
customers and suppliers build their businesses and brands. As the
largest full-service grocery partner in North America, UNFI is
committed to building a food system that is better for all and is
uniquely positioned to deliver great food, more choices, and fresh
thinking to customers. To learn more about how UNFI is Fueling the
Future of Food, visit www.unfi.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230109005845/en/
For Investors: Kristyn Farahmand 401-213-2160
kristyn.farahmand@unfi.com -or- Steve Bloomquist 952-828-4144
steve.j.bloomquist@unfi.com For Media: Jeff Swanson
952-903-1645 Jeffrey.s.swanson@unfi.com
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