Press Release Details

United Natural Foods Partners with Sodexho USA To Distribute Natural And Organic Foods to Foodservice Facilities

October 16, 2003

New Distribution Channel for United Natural Foods

DAYVILLE, Conn., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Natural Foods, Inc. (Nasdaq: UNFI) today announced that it has partnered with Sodexho USA (NYSE: SDX) to distribute natural and organic products to Sodexho USA's 6,000 institutional foodservice facilities across the United States. Sodexho USA is a leading provider of food and facilities management services to schools, corporate, campus and healthcare facilities.

Under the new agreement, UNFI will also distribute products to Herb'n Farm -- Om Style Cooking, the new natural and organic food brand from Wild Sage Foods, Inc., an organic food supplier and restaurant concept based in Mill Valley, CA. The eco-friendly, eat-in/carry-out chain, Herb'n Farm rolled out earlier this year in Sodexho USA's campus dining division at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO. Sodexho USA, in collaboration with Wild Sage Foods and through the support of UNFI's distribution network, is in the process of expanding the Herb'n Farm concept into the corporate dining and healthcare markets with three to five new locations opening in the next year.

Steven Townsend, Chief Executive Officer of United Natural Foods, commented, "The agreement to distribute to Sodexho USA's institutional foodservice locations and Wild Sage Foods' organic foods restaurants is a natural progression for us and is part of our strategic objective to expand our presence into all viable sales channels. We look forward to working with Sodexho USA, an organization committed to providing nutritious and sustainable fare to a variety of institutional settings."

About Sodexho USA

Sodexho USA ( www.sodexhoUSA.com ) is the leading provider of food and facilities management in the United States. Sodexho USA offers innovative outsourcing solutions in food service, housekeeping, grounds keeping, plant operations and maintenance, asset management, and laundry services to more than 6,000 corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, military and remote sites in North America. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, Sodexho USA serves as the official food service provider for the US Marine Corps.

About United Natural Foods

United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes over 32,000 products to more than 14,000 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 .

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding the Company's business that 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 14, 2003, 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. The Company is not undertaking to update any information in the foregoing reports until the effective date of its future reports required by applicable laws. Any projections of future results of operations should not be construed in any manner as a guarantee that such results will in fact occur. These projections are subject to change and could differ materially from final reported results. The Company may from time to time update these publicly announced projections, but it is not obligated to do so.

SOURCE United Natural Foods, Inc.
CONTACT: Rick D. Puckett, Chief Financial Officer of United Natural Foods, Inc., +1-860-779-2800; or General Information, Joseph Calabrese, +1-212-445-8434, or Analyst Information, Vanessa Schwartz, +1-212-445-8433, both of FRB Weber Shandwick
Web site: http://www.sodexhoUSA.com
http://www.unfi.com