Commenting on today's announcement, Daniel Atwood, United Natural Foods National
Vice President of Marketing, said, "The Living Naturally comprehensive suite of
products and services creates new opportunities for our retailers to increase
their inventory turns, reduce their costs, and enhance their profits. Our
customers will have access to a wide range of inventory management, marketing
and promotional products as well as resources for e- commerce, customer
education and state-of-the-art ordering through a universal smart scanner. By
leveraging these cost-effective options our customers will have the opportunity
to create healthier, more profitable businesses and that's very good news for
this industry."
Glenn Field, Living Naturally Chief Executive Officer added, "It is very
exciting to work with a company such as United Natural Foods which has such a
strong commitment to helping their customers. We believe Living Naturally has
the best ordering solutions and retailer website services in the natural
products industry and our alliance with United Natural Foods allows us to
provide our services at a much faster pace than would have otherwise been
possible -- not only for retailers, but also for manufacturers and other
entities within the industry. Overall, Living Naturally and United Natural Foods
are both committed to bringing greater prosperity to the wellness community as a
whole -- fostering the adoption of innovative new technologies while still
preserving and enhancing the existing relationships in the industry."
United Natural Foods President Steven Townsend said, "We believe that this
relationship will serve to benefit our customers greatly. It is rare to find a
solution that can so clearly translate directly into profits for retailers,
regardless of store size. Living Naturally's distinguishing business model
delivers the leverage of automation that will allow retailers to have stronger
businesses. We are committed to working with Living Naturally to deliver the
best solutions to our customers."
About United Natural Foods: United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes
over 30,000 products to more than 7,000 customers nationwide. The Company serves
a wide variety of retail formats including conventional supermarket chains,
natural product superstores and independent retail operators. For more
information on United Natural Foods, Inc., visit the Company's web site at
www.unfi.com .
About Living Naturally: Living Naturally is the leading provider of marketing
promotion and electronic ordering systems to the natural products Industry.
Formed in 1999 to service the needs of retailers, suppliers, and health
practitioners in this industry, the company has established itself as a clear
market leader with a customer base of retail stores and suppliers now exceeding
500. Living Naturally has a rapidly growing transactional business with
endorsements from leading figures throughout the natural products industry. For
more information about Living Naturally, visit the Company's web site at
www.livingnaturally.com .
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: Statements in this press release regarding United Natural's business which
are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and
uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could
cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, including but not limited to general business conditions, the impact
of competition and our dependence on principal customers, see "Risk Factors" in
the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on June
13, 2002, and its other filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date
made. United Natural Foods, Inc. is not undertaking to update any information in
the foregoing reports until the effective date of its future reports required by
applicable laws.
SOURCE United Natural Foods, Inc.
CONTACT: Daniel Atwood, National Vice President of Marketing of United
Natural Foods, Inc., +1-860-779-2800, or General Information, Joseph Calabrese
of FRB Weber Shandwick, +1-212-445-8434, or Linda Loren, Vice President of
Marketing of Living Naturally, +1-941-480-1910