Lead Independent Director Thomas B. Simone Appointed As Vice Chair of the
Board DAYVILLE, Conn., Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Natural Foods,
Inc. (Nasdaq: UNFI) (the "Company") announced today that its Board of
Directors has appointed distribution industry veteran Steven L. Spinner, age
48, as its new President and Chief Executive Officer. Current President and
Chief Executive Officer Michael S. Funk, age 54, will continue his 32-year
career with the Company as Chair of the Board and will remain actively
involved in strategic growth initiatives and key customer and supplier
relations.
Prior to his appointment as the Company's President and Chief Executive
Officer, Mr. Spinner enjoyed a successful career of more than 20 years at
Performance Food Group Company ("PFG"), the third largest broadline food
service distributor in the United States, with net sales in excess of $6.3
billion in its 2007 fiscal year. During this tenure, Mr. Spinner progressed
through increasingly responsible management positions and most recently served
as PFG's president and chief executive officer until May 2008, when PFG was
acquired by a private equity consortium.
The Company also announced that current Chair of the Board, Thomas B.
Simone, age 66, has been appointed as Vice Chair of the Board and will
continue to serve as the Company's Lead Independent Director.
Comments from the Company
Michael Funk commented, "For more then three decades I've helped build an
organization that has realized incredible growth and established a leadership
position in our industry. I am extremely confident that Steven's extensive
experience will enable UNFI to further enhance and expand our market
leadership position, and I look forward to working with him and our strong
management team to achieve our long-term growth plans."
Commenting on the transition, Thomas Simone, added, "The Board has been
integrally involved in the succession planning process and believes Steven's
experience makes him the right person to lead the Company through its next
phase of growth. We continue to appreciate Michael's many contributions to the
Company and look forward to his continuing active involvement as Chair of the
Board."
Steven Spinner commented, "I am excited about joining UNFI! We have a
passionate group of associates dedicated to a strong culture of growth,
integrity and change. I look forward to working closely with Michael Funk, all
UNFI associates, customers and suppliers as we continue to build our company
and strengthen our leadership position in the market. It's a terrific time to
be part of this great organization in an ever changing and growing industry."
Conference Call
Management will conduct a conference call and audio webcast at 9:30 a.m.
EDT on September 16, 2008 to discuss the appointment. The conference call
dial-in number is (303) 262-2053.
An audio webcast of the conference call will be available to the public,
on a listen-only basis, via the Internet at www.earnings.com or at the
Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.unfi.com. Please
allow extra time prior to the call to visit the site and download the
necessary software to listen to the Internet broadcast. The online archive of
the webcast will be available for 30 days.
About United Natural Foods
United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes more than 60,000
products to more than 17,000 customers nationwide. The Company serves a wide
variety of retail formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural
product superstores, independent retail operators and the food service
channel. United Natural Foods, Inc. was ranked by Forbes in 2005 as one of the
"Best Managed Companies in America," ranked by Fortune in 2006 and 2007 as one
of its "Most Admired Companies," ranked by Business Ethics as one of its "100
Best Corporate Citizens for 2006" and winner of the Supermarket News 2008
Sustainability Excellence Award.
"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 Securities and Exchange Commission on June 5, 2008, 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.
SOURCE United Natural Foods, Inc.
/CONTACT: Mark E. Shamber, Chief Financial Officer, United Natural Foods,
+1-860-779-2800; or Joseph Calabrese, General Information, Financial Relations
Board, +1-212-827-3772/
/Web site: http://www.unfi.com /
(UNFI)