To Open New Distribution Facility In Indiana
DAYVILLE, Conn., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Natural Foods,
Inc. (Nasdaq: UNFI) (the "Company") today announced plans to open a new state-
of-the-art distribution facility in Greenwood, Indiana. The Company has
received approval from local planning and zoning officials to expand the new
facility from its existing 277,000 square feet to 308,000 square feet and to
implement design specifications specifically suited to serve the needs of
United Natural Foods.
The center is scheduled to commence operations in July 2005 and will serve
as a distribution hub for customers in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and other
Midwest states. United Natural Foods currently has 15 distribution centers
throughout the United States, consisting of an aggregate of 2.6 million square
feet of space. United Natural Foods has the largest capacity of any
distributor in the natural products industry.
Steven Townsend, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "Continued
strong sales growth for United Natural Foods and increasing consumer demand
for natural and organic products create the need for this new state-of-the-art
facility in the Midwest. Committed to being the highest quality and lowest
cost distributor for the natural products industry, the Greenwood center will
be furnished with innovative technologies that will improve our distribution
capabilities and ensure that our customers in the Midwest Region receive
further product diversity and enhanced customer service. Overall, this
facility will be a solid addition to our extensive nationwide distribution
infrastructure and has the capacity to accommodate future growth. As we
previously announced, UNFI continues to invest in its people, facilities,
equipment and technology to continue to drive efficiencies throughout our
Company."
"Additionally, we found that the Greenwood area provided a large base of
committed, hard working, and dedicated people and we are pleased to note that
this facility is expected to create more then 250 jobs over the next three
years," Mr. Townsend added. The Company is partnering with the city and state
to begin the hiring process in February 2005.
About United Natural Foods
The Company carries and distributes over 35,000 products to more than
18,000 customers nationwide. The Company serves a wide variety of retail
formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product superstores
and independent retail operators.
"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-K
filed with the Commission on October 14, 2004, 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.
-0- 11/18/2004
/CONTACT: Joseph Calabrese, General Information, Financial Relations
Board, +1-212-445-8434; Rick D. Puckett, Vice President, CFO and Treasurer,
United Natural Foods, +1-860-779-2800/
(UNFI)