Value, deals, new products, and store services
top of mind amongst the more than 3,000 attendees at this week’s
buying show in Orlando, Florida
United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) (the “Company” or
“UNFI”) wrapped up its Natural & Conventional Spring &
Summer Show in Orlando, Fla. this week, hosting over 1,000 brands
and more than 2,000 customers. The show was the first of four major
buying shows UNFI will deliver in 2023 and the first to bring
together all natural and conventional products covering every store
department and category. Shows are a valuable way UNFI utilizes its
scale, insights, and innovative offerings to help community grocers
of all sizes differentiate, grow, and succeed.
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UNFI’s Natural & Conventional Spring
& Summer Show in Orlando, Fla. was the first of four major
buying shows UNFI will deliver in 2023. With over 170,000
square-feet of show space, the show offered an ideal venue to
introduce new products and line extensions, with UNFI estimating
more than 1,500 new items available for retailers to discover.
(Photo: Business Wire)
Value, Deals and New Products Drive Engagement
With food prices expected to continue growing in 2023 at ‘above
historical average’ rates, retailers attending UNFI’s Orlando show
came looking for value, special deals, and new products to bring
back to their shoppers.
“Our stores are located in primarily affluent communities and
we’re seeing the trading down and smaller basket sizes across our
stores, so the challenges consumers are facing are real,” said Jim
McCaffrey, second generation family owner of the seven-store
McCaffrey’s Food Markets operation in Bucks County, Pa. “UNFI shows
are tremendously important for us from networking with our UNFI
account team to partner meetings directly with vendors. This year
we’re seeing the return of stronger promotional activity from
suppliers and a return to more normalcy in deals and discounts. By
attending the show and working with vendors on promotional deals,
we’re able to pass along valuable discounts to our shoppers while
still holding on to margin for our business.”
With over 170,000 square-feet of show space, UNFI’s Orlando show
offered an ideal venue to introduce new products and line
extensions, with the Company estimating more than 1,500 new items
available for retailers to discover. Additionally, there were
valuable customer and supplier meetings helping lead to further
special account deals.
“Customers came to find deals and suppliers came ready to give
deals and gain market share and that’s a wonderful scenario for a
buying show,” said UNFI President Chris Testa. “Many customers
lined up products they wanted and pre-booked them and then came
here to finalize the price and, in most cases, negotiate even
better discounts on top of the base deals. That’s what makes our
shows so valuable.”
UNFI Shows Help Emerging Brands Grow and Scale
UNFI’s UpNext team kicked off the show by hosting six
up-and-coming brands in a Pitch Slam competition to spotlight their
products to retailers. Jaju Pierogi, based near Boston, Mass.,
earned this year’s top honor. Founded by two sisters using their
grandfather’s recipes, Jaju Pierogi launched their first products
in 2016 and have since expanded to using both traditional and
creative flavors in polish-stye pierogies. UNFI’s UpNext program
discovers and mentors emerging entrepreneurs and brands, guiding
them through all aspects of grocery distribution, and preparing
them to best scale their business to support customer growth. As
this year’s winner, Jaju Pierogi will enjoy greater retailer
visibility along with a free table at a future UNFI buying
show.
“Our background was not grocery, and we had no idea about all
the shipping, promotions, logistics, how shelf resets are planned
out to the millimeter, and just how much more complex this business
is than most people realize,” said Vanessa White, co-founder of
Jaju Pierogi. “Having UNFI as a partner to provide support,
education, and guidance is so helpful, and the reporting we get and
look at every single day helps us understand who’s pulling our
product and what items they’re stocking, and that information is so
helpful to our production and decision-making.”
Professional Services Gaining Traction
While not new to customer buying shows, UNFI Professional
Services help independent grocery retailers succeed by increasing
sales, decreasing costs, and enhancing their customer experience.
The Orlando show provided an opportunity to spotlight new and
innovative solutions, including electronic shelf labels and scan
and go technologies. UNFI Professional Services have historically
been sought after by conventional grocery store operators.
According to Testa, natural retailers are now beginning to
understand the value UNFI services can deliver.
“Independent retailers want to have the same capabilities as big
box stores, and our Professional Services offerings can help enable
that,” said Testa. “Customers, especially from our natural
accounts, have been hearing about our services for three years and
they’re now starting to be curious. We saw significant interest at
this show from natural customers interested in how we can help them
with shelf management, how we can leverage insights to help them
fix their mix, and how we can help with pricing and credit card
fees. It’s been one of Professional Services’ best shows for new
leads and I’m excited to see how we can help customers with these
new opportunities.”
UNFI will have a large presence at the Expo West Natural
Products show in Anaheim, Calif. March 7-11. The next exclusive
UNFI show will be the Mohegan Sun Natural Holiday Show in
Uncasville, Conn. June 7-8. For information on UNFI Shows,
customers or suppliers can visit: https://www.unfishowcases.com or
email events@unfi.com.
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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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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