United Natural Foods Inc. shared that current president Cristopher Testa will step down, effective October 13. UNFI CEO, J. Alexander Miller Douglas, will add the title and responsibility to his role.
After the transition, UNFI Services, including supplier services and merchandising, professional services, and the company’s Brands+ product platform, will be overseen by president of wholesale Louis Martin, notes Winsight Grocery Business.
“In a continued effort to improve execution and results, better align and simplify our organizational structure, and support our customer- and supplier-focused multiyear transformation plan, we have made the decision to combine our services and wholesale platforms,” said Douglas. “This alignment of our sales, services, brands, merchandising, and digital teams will enable us to move with greater speed and alignment in support of the continued growth of our customer and supplier partners.”
The leadership transformation comes in the wake of a string of quarterly financial reports that showed underperformance. Douglas cited “deep disappointment” with the fiscal 2023 Q3 results, according to the report.
The Q3 report also may have inspired UNFI’s plans to consolidate to three operating regions from four, which, in turn, has earmarked roughly 150 positions for termination.
“Fiscal 2024 is an important year as we emerge from three years of unprecedented volatility and look to reset our profitability in the near term while investing in critical foundational skills, infrastructure, and capabilities that we believe will accelerate growth in sales and profitability for UNFI, our customers and our suppliers,” Douglas told analysts last week in a call on Q4 results. Full Story
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