UNITED NATURAL FOODS INC (UNFI) Business

ITEM 1.    BUSINESS

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report” or “Report”), unless otherwise specified, references to “United Natural Foods,” “UNFI,” “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company” mean United Natural Foods, Inc. together with its consolidated subsidiaries. We are a Delaware corporation based in Providence, Rhode Island. We conduct our business through various subsidiaries. Since the formation of our predecessor in 1976, we have grown our business both organically and through acquisitions, which have expanded our distribution network, product selection and customer base.

Our Background

UNFI is a leading grocery wholesaler and support services provider to retailers in the United States and Canada. We believe our broad array of products, data, insights, programs and services uniquely positions us to help meet a wide range of customer and supplier needs across North America. Our diversified customer base includes over 30,000 customer locations ranging from some of the largest grocers in North America to smaller retailers. We offer over 200,000 products consisting of national, regional and private label brands grouped into the following main product categories: center store and general merchandise; fresh and perishables; frozen; wellness and personal care; and bulk and foodservice. We believe we are North America’s premier grocery wholesaler with 46 distribution centers and warehouses representing approximately 26 million square feet of warehouse space. We are a coast-to-coast distributor with customers in all 50 states as well as all ten provinces in Canada, making us a desirable partner for retailers and consumer product manufacturers. We believe our total product assortment and service offerings help differentiate UNFI in the wholesale marketplace. We plan to continue to pursue new business opportunities with independent retailers that operate diverse formats, regional and national chains and international customers with wide-ranging needs. Our business is classified into three reportable segments: Natural, Conventional and Retail.

Our Strategic Priorities

Our value creation strategy is focused on adding value for our customers and suppliers and becoming a more effective and efficient company. We are actively working to position our Company to be the partner of choice to a resilient portion of the food retail industry, including retailers focused on natural, organic, specialty, multi-cultural and differentiated grocery offerings. This strategy capitalizes on UNFI’s strengths, including our heritage in natural, organic and specialty products, growing portfolio of digital and professional services and private label offerings that help customers differentiate and compete.

We expect to continue to use available capital to re-invest in our business and are committed to improving our free cash flow and financial leverage through working to improve our profitability, disciplined capital investment and strengthened working capital management, while reducing outstanding debt.

We believe we can optimize our performance and profitability through our improvement efforts, which we expect will improve our operational effectiveness and cost structure, increase sales of products and services to new and existing customers and position us to provide tailored, data-driven solutions to help our customers and suppliers run their businesses more efficiently.

We are continually striving to better serve our stakeholders, including our customers, suppliers, associates and communities, and to drive profitable growth and sustainable shareholder value creation.

Our Commitment to Sustainability

Creating a Better Future for Communities

At UNFI, we are committed to delivering value to our shareholders while also fostering long-term sustainability throughout our business. Now in its sixth year, our sustainability strategy, Better for All, is designed to drive meaningful impact outcomes, while simultaneously supporting business efficiencies and creating shared value for our stakeholders.

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In November 2025, we published our 15th annual Impact Report, which offers a summary of our sustainability initiatives and impact during fiscal 2025. The report demonstrates our focus on our four streamlined impact pillars: resilient supply chain, thriving associates, efficient and sustainable operations and nourished communities. The report is available on the Investor Relations section of our website and highlights progress toward our goals, including waste reduction, associate engagement and belonging, food donations and food safety. The contents of our Impact Report are not incorporated by reference into or considered to be part of this Annual Report. In fiscal 2026, we also updated our Sustainability Policy, outlining our commitments to advancing UNFI’s initiatives that have positive impacts on the planet, deliver value for our stakeholders and drive efficiency and cost savings for the Company.

Upstream

Our impact begins with the decisions made by our partners and suppliers, well before products reach our distribution centers. Because of this, we are investing in programs and partnerships that drive product quality and seek to improve supply chain resilience. In fiscal 2023, we formed the UNFI Climate Action Partnership (“CAP”), which provides resources and support to help suppliers measure, manage and minimize their climate impact. In fiscal 2026, over 100 UNFI suppliers participated in CAP. In fiscal 2026, we hosted two climate summits, bringing together CAP suppliers, retailers and partners to foster industry collaboration and work to accelerate collective action to reduce shared Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. UNFI’s Climate Action Hub, an online resource that offers suppliers tools and resources to innovate and scale climate solutions across the food system, published three new supplier case studies showcasing real world climate action and associated business benefits. We believe these practices and resources help us to work more effectively and efficiently with suppliers and vendors in pursuing our shared goals.

Operations

We remain focused on supporting the highest level of safety, cultivating a high-performing workforce and improving operational resilience. Our associates’ safety and well-being are of the utmost importance to us. Our primary goal is to cultivate a culture that values care and safety for all. Through continuous efforts, we are dedicated to minimizing the risk of injuries and accidents, providing a safe and thriving environment for everyone. We are also focused on a culture of inclusion, with our seven associate-led Belonging and Innovation Groups, which are open to all associates, providing opportunities for innovation, learning and impact across the Company. For the fifth year in a row, we were awarded the Distinguished proficiency level by Disability Index, the highest award, reserved for companies with industry-leading disability inclusion with deeply embedded and innovative practices.

We continue to invest in projects that reduce operating costs by improving energy efficiency, lowering fuel spend and enhancing long-term infrastructure resilience. As part of these efforts, we continued to expand our energy efficiency initiatives to additional distribution centers and, in fiscal 2026, broke ground on an integrated energy infrastructure project at our Gilroy, California, distribution center. The project will equip the site with infrastructure to support electric vehicle tractors, including charging stations, solar power and battery energy storage. Together, these upgrades are expected to help reduce transportation costs and emissions while strengthening our ability to serve our customers.

Downstream

We aim to be responsible community members, from our waste and recycling initiatives to the local organizations our associates support through paid time off to volunteer. In fiscal 2026, we launched our Zero Waste Champions Network, a Company-wide initiative across our distribution centers to improve waste diversion rates and support our waste reduction goals. Through partnerships with community organizations and our distribution center teams, we achieved our goal of donating 250 million pounds of food to communities in need this year, four years ahead of schedule. The UNFI Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, continued to align its strategy with business and impact objectives by issuing impact investments and celebrating UNFI’s 50th anniversary through a “50 for 50 grantmaking campaign,” which funded organizations in all 50 states and Canada. As part of this campaign, the UNFI Foundation is committed to awarding nearly $2 million to nonprofits aligned with its funding priorities in calendar year 2026.

We believe our stakeholder-focused sustainability strategy has long been a part of UNFI’s success, unlocking efficiencies through collaboration across the business, and is key to our Company purpose: Better Food. Better Future. We continue to stay focused on the needs of our stakeholders and further prioritize the sustainability initiatives that strengthen the performance of our business.

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Our Customers

We maintain long-standing relationships with many of our customers. Our diversified customer base includes over 30,000 customer locations, primarily located across the United States and Canada, which range from some of the largest grocers in North America to smaller retailers.

One Natural customer, which includes customers under common control, constituted more than 10% of total Net sales in fiscal 2026. We continue to serve our largest customer pursuant to an amended and restated distribution agreement with a term through May 20, 2032.

Our international Net sales primarily reflect UNFI Canada, Inc. (“UNFI Canada”), which represented approximately 1% of our Net sales in fiscal 2026. International business excludes sales transacted in U.S. dollars and shipped internationally, which is an even smaller component of our business.

We also continue to invest in technology and systems with the intent of enhancing the customer experience, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of our operations and growing our services platform, including our eCommerce and innovation businesses. This includes sales to eCommerce companies as well as business-to-business sales to non-traditional customers. In fiscal 2026, we launched a new digital marketplace called Endless Aisle that provides retailers with access to innovative, emerging brands while helping suppliers expand their reach. Through this digital marketplace, suppliers gain expedited access to UNFI’s digital infrastructure to promote and sell their products to UNFI’s broad customer base, while UNFI customers gain access to an even broader assortment of unique and local items with the convenience of ordering from multiple sources online in one place.

Natural and Conventional Wholesale

We organize and operate our wholesale business through two operating segments which represent our product-centered business divisions, as follows:

•Natural, which primarily reflects the wholesale distribution of natural, organic and specialty food and non-food products and services and includes the Company’s portfolio of natural owned brands and natural and organic snack food manufacturing business; and

•Conventional, which primarily reflects the wholesale distribution of conventional food and non-food products and services and includes the Company’s portfolio of conventional owned brands.

Segment management is responsible for product and service strategy, execution, and financial results, and has focused regional sales teams aligned to the unique product and service needs of the customers they serve.

Operations

We offer wholesale customers a wide variety of food and non-food products, including our own private label offerings, as well as a broad array of digital and professional services. Our product assortment spans natural, organic, specialty and conventional categories and is designed to meet the diverse needs of our customers.

To maintain our market position and improve our operating efficiencies, we seek to continually:

•expand our marketing and customer service programs across regions;

•expand our national purchasing opportunities;

•offer a broader product and value add service selection than our competitors;

•offer operational excellence with high service levels and a higher percentage of on-time deliveries and fill rates than our competitors;

•centralize and streamline general and administrative functions to reduce expenses;

•consolidate systems applications among physical locations and regions; and

•invest in our people, facilities, equipment and supply chain technology.

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Procurement

We maintain contracts with suppliers to procure their products. Our procurement process includes assessments of demand planning, pricing, seasonality and other factors. Inventory costs are determined at the time of procurement and include vendor funds received and inbound freight, among other items. The gross margins we earn on sales to our customers are typically based on a percentage mark-up, or fee, on top of vendor listed base cost, and vary by customer, product type, vendor size, volume throughput, transportation methods and distances, among other factors. Net sales to customers are determined at the time of sale based on the then prevailing vendor listed base cost and include discounts we offer to our customers. The differential between the cost at which we procure products, as compared to the net sales price at which those products are sold, primarily generates our gross margin.

Retail

As of August 1, 2026, our Retail segment included 65 Cub Foods and Shoppers retail grocery stores. Our retail stores provide an extensive grocery offering and, depending on size, a variety of additional products, including general merchandise, home, health and beauty care, and pharmacy. We offer national and local brands, as well as our own private label products. A typical retail store carries approximately 17,000 to 21,000 core SKUs and ranges in size from approximately 50,000 to 70,000 square feet. We believe our retail banners have strong local and regional brand recognition in the markets in which they operate. Our Retail operations are principally supplied by three of our Conventional distribution centers. For financial reporting purposes, intersegment sales from our distribution centers to our own Retail stores are eliminated from our Conventional segment.

Our Product Offerings

Our extensive selection includes food and non-food products spanning the following main product categories: center store and general merchandise; fresh and perishables; frozen; wellness and personal care; and bulk and food service. Across these categories, our assortment includes natural, organic, specialty, and conventional products. We offer nationally recognized brand name and private label products, which are sold through our Natural and Conventional segments to wholesale customers and our Retail stores.

Our owned brands portfolio is a collection of brands that offer high quality solutions for private label to our customers. ESSENTIAL EVERYDAY® is our leading national brand equivalent private label solution with over 2,000 SKUs for departments across the store. It is complemented by SHOPPERS VALUE®, which offers the budget conscious consumer quality alternatives to national brands. Our WILD HARVEST® brand offers a full range of products made with simple, wholesome ingredients across multiple categories, including produce, meat, grocery, frozen, dairy, health and beauty care products and pet foods. Our Field Day® brand is primarily sold to natural store / co-op retailers as a private label solution. Our WOODSTOCK® brand has been pioneering organic / non-GMO premium products for over 40 years and continues to launch innovative products. Our complementary brands, primarily including STONE RIDGE CREAMERY®, EQUALINE®, CULINARY CIRCLE®, SUPER CHILL®, ARCTIC SHORES SEAFOOD COMPANY® and KOYO® also provide national brand equivalent products at a competitive price.

Our subsidiary doing business as Woodstock Farms Manufacturing specializes in importing, roasting, packaging and distributing nuts, dried fruit, seeds, trail mixes, granola, natural and organic snack items and confections for our customers and in the Company’s branded products. We operate an organic (United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) and Quality Assurance International (“QAI”)) and kosher (Circle K) certified packaging, roasting, and processing facility in New Jersey that is SQF (Safety Quality Food) level 2 certified. Woodstock Farms Manufacturing sells items manufactured in bulk and through private label packaging arrangements with large health food, supermarket and convenience store chains and independent retailers.

Our Service Offerings

We offer a broad array of digital and professional services that provide wholesale customers with cost-effective and scalable business solutions. Our services are designed to help customers address business challenges, better serve their customers and compete in the marketplace. These services include solutions we develop and provide directly, as well as pass-through programs in which vendors provide services directly to our wholesale customers. We provide shelf and planogram management, retail store support, pricing strategy, shelf tags, electronic payments processing, coupon processing, store layout and design, equipment sourcing and procurement, point-of-sale hardware and software, network and data hosting solutions, consumer convenience services, automation tools, sustainability services and administrative back-office solutions. The sales and operating results for these services are included within Natural and Conventional.

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We offer a variety of marketing services designed to increase sales for our customers and suppliers, including consumer and trade marketing programs, as well as programs to support suppliers in understanding our markets. Consumer and trade marketing programs cater to a broad range of retail formats. Retail marketing programs offer web and digital marketing services, including websites, digital coupon and loyalty programs, mobile applications and eCommerce capabilities, and circular programs for our customers and vendors. Supplier marketing programs include information sharing programs designed to provide heightened transparency to suppliers through demand planning, forecasting and procurement insights. Our retail media network, the UNFI Media Network, enables retailers to reach their consumers digitally while connecting to our large network of suppliers, who in turn, can utilize the platform for personalized and targeted advertising. Our goal is to provide programs and services that educate consumers, profile suppliers and increase sales for retailers, many of which do not have the resources necessary to conduct such marketing programs independently, to drive collective long-term success.

In addition to these services, we provide data, insights and resources that help our customers compete and succeed in their respective markets. We also offer our customers:

•trends reports in the natural and organic industry;

•product data information such as best seller lists, store usage reports and catalogs;

•in-store signage, promotional materials and assistance with product display planning and set up; and

•a robust retailer portal with product information, search and ordering capabilities, reports and publications.

Our Suppliers

We purchase our products from a broad network of thousands of suppliers. The majority of our suppliers are based in the United States and Canada, but we also source products from suppliers throughout the world. We believe suppliers seek to distribute their products through us because we provide access to a large, diversified customer base across the United States and Canada, distribute the majority of the suppliers’ products and offer a wide variety of marketing programs to our customers to help sell our suppliers’ products. Substantially all product categories that we distribute are available from a number of suppliers and, therefore, we are not dependent on any single supply source for any product category. In addition, although we have exclusive distribution arrangements and support programs with several suppliers, none of our suppliers accounted for more than 5% of our total purchases in fiscal 2026.

We have positioned ourselves as one of the largest purchasers of organically grown bulk products in the natural and organic products industry by centralizing our purchase of nuts, seeds, grains, flours and dried foods. As a result, we are able to negotiate purchases from suppliers on the basis of volume and other considerations that may include discounted pricing or prompt payment discounts. Furthermore, some of our purchase arrangements include the right of return to the supplier with respect to products that we do not sell in a specified period of time. Each division is responsible for placing its own orders and can select the products that it believes will most appeal to its customers, although each division is able to participate in our company-wide purchasing programs.

Our Distribution Network

Our wholesale operations are supported by a strategically designed distribution network that enables us to efficiently source, store and deliver products to our customers. Our distribution centers are located to provide direct access to the markets we serve and are configured to optimize service levels and operating costs. These facilities support our broad range of product categories as described above.

Logistics

Products are delivered to our distribution centers primarily by our fleet of leased and owned trucks, contract carriers and the suppliers themselves. When financially advantageous, we pick up products from suppliers or satellite staging facilities and return them to our distribution centers using our own trucks. We believe that we incur lower inbound freight expense than our regional competitors because our scale allows us to buy full and partial truckloads of products. Additionally, the scale of our distribution network provides us with the flexibility to shift volume amongst distribution centers in response to volume spikes, unique customer needs, temporary inbound fill rate challenges and external factors such as weather-related events, as well as the capacity to support future sales growth.

We deliver products to customers using a combination of company-operated and third-party transportation. The majority of our trucks are leased and are maintained by third-party national leasing companies, which in some cases maintain facilities on our premises for the maintenance and service of these vehicles. We also have facilities where we operate our own maintenance shops.

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We ship certain orders for supplements or for items that are destined for areas outside of regular delivery routes through independent carriers. Deliveries to areas outside the continental United States and Canada are typically shipped by freight-forwarders through ocean-going containers.

Organic Certification

Across our United States distribution center network, QAI has issued 33 Organic Handler certifications under the USDA National Organic Program. In California, all distribution centers are registered as Organic Handlers with both the State of California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Additionally, one California facility holds organic certification from California Certified Organic Farmers. Our distribution center in Ontario, Canada, is also certified by QAI as an Organic Distributor.

We maintain a comprehensive quality assurance program. All products we sell that are represented as organic must be certified by an independent third-party agency. We maintain current certification affidavits for most organic commodities and produce to verify product authenticity. Potential suppliers of organic products are required to provide valid third-party certifications before they are approved as suppliers.

Our Technology Investments

We continue to make significant investments in supply chain, financial, information and business applications and operating systems. We continually evaluate and upgrade our enterprise systems and supply chain infrastructure to enhance security, respond to industry needs, enable our customers effectively and drive cost-efficiency. We believe these systems include best in class functionality in order management systems, procurement systems for demand forecasting and inventory replenishment, cloud-based warehouse management systems for inventory control and labor management, scan-based fulfillment applications, transportation management systems and warehouse automation and robotics. We continue to deploy our fulfillment technology with Universal Product Code (“UPC”) scan-based technology for selection, loading and customer deliveries to ensure order accuracy and traceability throughout the supply chain. We have expanded our portfolio of investments in artificial intelligence (“AI”)-enabled warehouse automation and robotic solutions to support full case and unit pick fulfillment processes to improve safety, quality, service and deliver supply chain efficiencies. We continue to leverage effective transportation management systems that enable us to lower inbound transportation costs by making optimal use of our own fleet of trucks and/or by consolidating deliveries to achieve full truckloads. In addition, we use cloud solutions to assist us in developing the most efficient routes, tracking vehicle maintenance and monitoring driver safety and the movement of trucks in real-time. We continue our efforts to standardize to industry-leading software solutions for inventory procurement, order management, transportation operations and warehouse management systems throughout our network. Deployment of continuous improvement methodologies within our supply chain is focused on improving our ability to more effectively service our customers and suppliers and enable growth, while also delivering labor and cost efficiencies.

Competition

Our Natural, Conventional and Retail businesses operate in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving industry, which is characterized by low profit margins, new business models and the entry of new, non-traditional competitors that intensify competition. Our food distribution business competes with many traditional and specialty grocery wholesalers and retailers that maintain or develop self-distribution systems for the business of independent grocery retailers. We also increasingly compete with companies that offer services in digital advertising, fulfillment and delivery services, health and wellness and financial services. The primary competitive factors in the wholesale business include price, service level, product quality, variety, availability, location of distribution centers and other value-added services. Ongoing consolidation within the grocery industry has increased, and may continue to increase, competitive pressure from large, well-capitalized competitors with significant scale, purchasing power and financial, marketing, technological and operational resources.

Independent retailers and smaller chain customers represent a significant portion of our business and face intense competition from national grocery chains, supercenters, deep discounters, mass merchandisers, limited assortment stores and eCommerce providers, many of whom offer expansive services beyond grocery.

Our retail banners compete with traditional and specialty grocery stores, supercenters, deep discounters, mass merchandisers, limited assortment stores and eCommerce providers. The principal competitive factors in grocery retail include the location and image of the store; the price, quality, and variety of the fresh offering; and the quality, convenience, and consistency of service. Competitive strategies vary based on many factors, such as the competitor’s format, strengths, weaknesses, pricing and sales focus. Our retail stores have continued to respond to growing competition from online and non-traditional retailers by adding options and services such as online ordering, curbside pick-up and home delivery.

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Government Regulation

Our operations and many of the products that we distribute in the United States are subject to regulation by state and local regulatory agencies (including, but not limited to, health departments and the USDA). The United States Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) imposes standards for product quality, safety, labeling and food defense. In the United States, our facilities generally are inspected at least annually by state or federal authorities. For meat-based and produce product lines, we are also subject to the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, the Packers and Stockyard Act and regulations promulgated by the USDA to interpret and implement these statutory provisions. The USDA imposes standards for product safety, quality and sanitation through the federal meat and poultry inspection program.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (“FSMA”) in the United States (administered by the FDA) and the Safe Foods for Canadians Act in Canada (administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency) have expanded food safety requirements across the food supply chain and, among other things, impose additional regulations focused on prevention of food contamination, more frequent inspection of high-risk facilities, increased record-keeping and improved tracing of food. Products that do not meet regulatory standards and/or comply with these regulations may be considered adulterated and/or misbranded and subject to recall.

The FSMA rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food establishes requirements intended to prevent practices during transportation that create food safety risks, such as inadequate temperature control, cross-contamination and unsanitary transportation equipment. The Surface Transportation Board and the Federal Highway Administration regulate our transportation operations in the United States. In addition, interstate motor carrier operations are subject to safety requirements prescribed by the United States Department of Transportation and other relevant federal and state agencies. Such matters as weight and dimension of equipment are also subject to federal and state regulations. Transport Canada regulates transportation operations in Canada, in coordination with various provincial/territorial and municipal authorities.

Our facilities are subject to regulations issued pursuant to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act by the U.S. Department of Labor and similar regulations by state agencies. Our facilities in Canada are subject to regulations issued pursuant to the occupational health and safety frameworks implemented by various provincial agencies. These regulations require us to comply with certain health and safety standards to protect our employees from recognized hazards. We are also subject to the National Labor Relations Act, which provides employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with their employer and to engage in other protected concerted activity, the Fair Labor Standards Act and other employment-related state and local regulations, which establish minimum wages and overtime standards, among other requirements.

Our facilities in the United States and in Canada are subject to various environmental protection statutes and regulations, including those relating to the discharge of materials into the environment, the disposal of food by-products, recycling/end of life product management, the handling, treatment and disposal of wastes, maintenance of refrigeration systems and fuel storage tanks and remediation of soil and groundwater contamination. Moreover, in some of our facilities we, or third parties with whom we contract, perform vehicle maintenance. Our policy is to comply with all applicable federal, state, provincial and local provisions relating to the protection of the environment or the discharge of materials.

Our international business operations are subject to various laws and regulations regarding the import and export of products and preventing corruption and bribery (including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). We have implemented and continue to develop import/export and anti-corruption compliance programs and processes to comply with applicable laws and regulations governing our international business activities.

Human Capital Management

Our employees, referred to as “associates,” are critical to supporting our values and achieving our strategic vision. We believe a people-first culture, combined with investments in talent, leadership and organizational capabilities, strengthens our ability to serve customers and suppliers. We strive to be an employer of choice by focusing on associate safety, empowerment and engagement to foster innovation and deliver differentiated solutions to our customers and suppliers in an ever-changing retail landscape. The Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors oversees human capital management matters with a focus on associate well-being across a variety of measures.

As of August 1, 2026, we had 23,431 full and part-time employees, 11,341 of whom (approximately 48%) were covered by 64 collective bargaining agreements, including existing agreements under negotiation. We have been the focus of union-organizing efforts, and we believe it is likely that similar efforts will continue in the future.

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Developing Talent

Attracting and retaining talent is one of our top priorities. Our goal is to differentiate ourselves in the market by offering flexibility to associates for how they work and develop. To reduce turnover, we have an emphasized focus on and commitment to our associates, their experiences as well as their continued engagement. We support their growth by offering high-impact leadership development programs, role-based training, on-the-job training and other career opportunities at every stage of their tenure. Designed to enhance the leadership capabilities of our people, we develop and deliver optional programs to leaders across all departments that come together to learn and practice their management skills as well as identify opportunities to lead more effectively. The Elevate program for director-level and above associates works to solidify our talent pipeline and promote the success of the organization’s future leaders. Our front-line leaders are supported through specific Learning and Development pipelines for corporate, wholesale and operations. Our Learning and Development teams partner with key groups such as Sales, Operations, Transportation and Safety to develop role-based training, including Lean continuous improvement methodologies and AI training, to drive greater productivity and safety. We also offer associates additional learning and career development opportunities that extend from comprehensive, flexible education benefits and skills-based training deployed in person and electronically through our BetterU learning system, to mentorship programs, such as Mentor Marketplace, and career development discussions and beyond.

Compensation and Benefits

Our compensation and benefits programs are designed to promote a culture of well-being and recognize our associates for their outstanding achievements and dedication to serving our customers and supporting our enterprise objectives. We are committed to offering market competitive pay programs that reward high levels of performance and behaviors that challenge convention and drive company success. Our short-term incentive programs are tied to the Company’s financial goals and are intended to align our eligible associates’ rewards with our financial success. Long-term incentives, including restricted share units and performance share unit awards, are designed to attract and retain innovative leaders and align their financial interests with that of our shareholders and other stakeholders. As part of our commitment to recognize our associates’ “whole self” – health, finances and overall well-being – we offer a comprehensive health and welfare benefit program to eligible associates providing a variety of medical, dental and vision options plus additional voluntary benefits like long-term disability and optional life insurance. Additionally, we provide to eligible associates paid time off programs including paid parental leave, an employee assistance program, a 401(k) plan and an education assistance program.

Inclusion and Well-being

In order to recruit, inspire and retain the most talented team at all levels that maximizes speed, agility, innovation, execution and performance from the Boardroom to our distribution centers, we pledge to promote inclusion and well-being for all by delivering high-quality benefits and programs that attract and nurture high performance in a safe and inclusive culture. Our Board of Directors has a broad range of experience and represents a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, and we strive to reflect that commitment across all levels of the organization. We recognize that innovation thrives when there is unity and respect for all backgrounds and perspectives. Additionally, we aim to foster a culture of belonging, empathy and inclusion through open dialogues and educational opportunities.

Our Vice President of Inclusion and Well-being oversees efforts around associate engagement and belongingness, Broad Market Access supplier initiatives and well-being programs. Our Inclusion and Well-being council and seven associate-led Belonging and Innovation Groups (all of which are open to all associates) actively strive to create a workplace where all associates feel welcome and are motivated to reach their full potential. Key contributions of our Belonging and Innovation Groups in fiscal 2026 included leading the Operations Leadership Development program and the launch of our new distribution center Spanish Essentials program, focused on equipping distribution center leaders with higher Spanish speaking employee populations with practical Spanish language skills for daily operations to strengthen communication, inclusion and safety in our distribution centers. Our multi-pronged approach to educate and engage associates includes open discussions on various dimensions of inclusion and well-being, mental health awareness trainings on our associate platforms, targeted volunteerism, and campaigns encouraging respect and empathy. We offer Mental Health First Aid training to teach leaders skills needed to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges, as well as how to provide someone with initial support until they are connected with appropriate professional help. In fiscal 2026, we expanded this program to all associates to increase access to mental health education and resources across the organization.

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Creating a Safe Environment

Safety is at the forefront of everything we do. We continue to focus on the safety of our associates, customers, communities and consumers with increased safety measures. We continue to be committed to continuous learning and improvement, and we believe in the power of learning from past experiences to enhance our safety system and performance, relying on in-depth root cause incident analysis to address system issues. We also continue to invest in our safety brand and pledge, Every Moment Matters, which is designed to foster a culture of integrating safety into everything we do.

This past year, we focused on continuing to make meaningful reductions in both Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) recordable incidents and lost time injuries (“LTI”) through several key initiatives:

•implementing Lean daily management in 44 of our distributions centers, strengthening our performance across safety, quality, delivery and cost metrics;

•investing in center ride pallet jacks, which offer reduced risk of injury compared to end ride pallet jacks;

•improving our root cause analysis process;

•establishing a serious incident escalation and management process;

•strengthening our internal audit process;

•creating more comprehensive reporting on key performance indicators, including adding a new environmental permit compliance metric; and

•continuing to build upon our safety culture.

As part of our ongoing commitment to road safety, we have evolved our use of AI video-based safety technology from implementation to a fully-integrated component of our fleet safety strategy, furthering its impact through data-driven coaching and performance management. This technology enhances public safety and driver protection, promotes real-time coaching, strengthens our ability to proactively reduce risk and contributes to safer roads for all. Additionally, we have enhanced driver development programs through the deployment of training modules, improving workforce capability and learning efficacy.

We continued to invest in our food safety and quality assurance (“FSQA”) program, reflecting our commitment to deliver value to our suppliers, customers and consumers. Key components of this program include Food Safety Fundamental Rules that are part of our daily operations rhythms; a robust internal audit program, including unannounced audits; comprehensive reporting on key performance indicators; technology that enhances tracking of food safety incidents; and maintenance of SQF certification at all eligible distribution centers, promoting customer confidence in our food safety program. Other key FSQA initiatives in fiscal 2026 included:

•enhancing environmental monitoring programs, strengthening preventative controls and supporting food safety, product integrity and regulatory compliance;

•implementing quarterly driver engagement and field observation initiatives to reinforce food safety practices, operational visibility and continuous improvement;

•strengthening recall response protocols through enhanced multi-channel communication capabilities, improving organizational readiness and response effectiveness;

•developing and implementing a refrigeration contingency framework, strengthening operational resilience, safeguarding product integrity and supporting business continuity during planned and unplanned refrigeration outages; and

•expanding multilingual FSQA training resources, increasing accessibility and comprehension across a diverse workforce.

Seasonality

Overall product sales are fairly balanced throughout the year, although demand for certain products of a seasonal nature may be influenced by holidays, changes in seasons or other annual events. Our working capital needs are generally greater during the months of and leading up to high sales periods, such as the buildup in inventory leading to the calendar year-end holidays. Our inventory, accounts payable and accounts receivable levels may be impacted by macroeconomic impacts and changes in food-at-home purchasing rates. These effects can result in normal operating fluctuations in working capital balances, which in turn can result in changes to cash flow from operations that are not necessarily indicative of long-term operating trends.

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Available Information

Our internet address is http://www.unfi.com. The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference into or considered to be part of this Annual Report, and our website address is included in this document as an inactive textual reference only. We make our Annual Report, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission.