National Co+op Grocers (NCG) announced that it has reached agreement on a multi-year purchasing contract that names UNFI as its primary distributor for natural and organic products through at least July 2021.
UNFI has served as the primary distributor for NCG food co-ops since the two companies signed their initial agreement in 2006. At that time, NCG represented 106 retail food co-ops generating $870 million in revenue. Under the new six-year contract, UNFI will continue to provide distribution services to NCG’s now 143 retail food co-ops, which operate over 190 stores in 38 states and generate over $1.7 billion in revenue.
“We’re pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with UNFI,” said Ben Nauman, NCG’s director of purchasing. “UNFI has been a key and valued partner in our supply chain. We look forward to continuing to work together on distribution programs that drive the growth of retail food co-ops and the cooperative economy.”
Beyond distribution, NCG and UNFI have worked together on various initiatives to support the promotion of natural and organic products and raise food quality and integrity. “It’s important to us that our supply chain partners share many of our values,” said Robynn Shrader, NCG’s chief executive officer.
“As a virtual chain, NCG is one of our largest and fastest growing customers in the last 10 years” said Steve Spinner, UNFI’s president and chief executive officer. “Our connections to food co-ops go back to our company’s founding and we are excited to be selected once again as the best fit to serve the needs of this important sector.”
About NCG
National Co+op Grocers (NCG), founded in 1999, is a business services cooperative for retail food co-ops located throughout the United States. NCG helps unify food co-ops in order to optimize operational and marketing resources, strengthen purchasing power, and ultimately offer more value to natural food co-op owners and shoppers everywhere. Our 143 member and associate co-ops operate more than 190 storefronts in 38 states with combined annual sales over $1.7 billion. NCG is a winner of the dotCoop Global Awards for Cooperative Excellence and a Certified B Corporation. Find a map of NCG member and associate co-ops. To learn more about co-ops, visit www.strongertogether.coop.
About United Natural Foods
United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes over 80,000 products to more than 40,000 customer locations throughout the United States and Canada. The company serves a wide variety of retail formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product superstores, independent retail operators and the food service channel. For more information on United Natural Foods, Inc., visit www.unfi.com.
Source: National Co+op Grocers (NCG)
