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UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.) is the largest publicly traded wholesale grocery distributor in North America, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company operates approximately 50+ distribution centers and delivers fresh, natural, organic, specialty, and conventional products to more than 30,000 customer locations across the United States and Canada — including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, e-commerce providers, and food service customers. UNFI generates approximately $31–32 billion in annual revenue (fiscal 2026 guidance) and employs roughly 25,000–30,000 people. Its single largest customer is Whole Foods Market, which serves as UNFI's primary distribution partner through an agreement extended to 2032. UNFI's wholesale business spans both a natural/organic segment (growing at ~11% year-over-year) and a conventional segment.
For brands, UNFI functions as the primary route to shelf for thousands of independent and regional grocery retailers that don't have their own centralized distribution. Brands sell to UNFI as a wholesale intermediary — UNFI buys product and resells it to its retail customers, handling warehousing, logistics, and replenishment. The company has been investing in simplifying onboarding for emerging and innovative brands, including through Marketplace by UNFI, a B2B digital e-commerce platform that gives newer suppliers expedited access to UNFI's customer base without requiring a full traditional distribution agreement. UNFI also offers value-added supplier services including merchandising support, shelf management, market data and insights, promotional programs, and its seasonal Selling Shows that connect suppliers directly with retailers (the most recent drew 1,800 retailers and 800 supplier brands). UNFI operates its own private-label program spanning hundreds of categories, which competes with supplier brands on shelf.
UNFI has also launched a national retail media network in partnership with Swiftly, enabling CPG brands to advertise across thousands of independent and regional grocery stores through digital, in-store, and off-site channels. Digital and professional services now account for roughly a quarter of UNFI's adjusted EBITDA and are growing faster than the core wholesale business. Brands in natural, organic, specialty, conventional grocery, fresh, and food service typically engage UNFI to gain broad distribution reach across the fragmented independent and regional grocer landscape — particularly those that lack the scale or existing relationships to go direct with thousands of individual retailers, or those looking to complement direct-store-delivery with a wholesale partner that covers the long tail of the U.S. grocery market.
