– USA, RI – United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) today announced the appointment of Sandy Douglas to its Board of Directors as CEO, effective August 9, 2021, succeeding Steve Spinner who retired as CEO and from the Board, both effective August 9, 2021.
“We are pleased to welcome Sandy as our new CEO and member of the UNFI Board,” said Denise Clark, Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee and CEO Succession Planning Committee. “He has a demonstrated track record leading large-scale transformation and growth through strategic, customer-focused action. His extensive experience, which is directly aligned with UNFI’s focus on growing the core business while investing in innovation, make Sandy well-suited to successfully drive the Company through its next chapter of growth.”
The company also announced the appointment of Jack Stahl to serve as Independent Chair of its Board effective as of August 9, 2021, while Peter Roy will step down as the Lead Director, a position he has held since 2019, but will remain on the Board.
“Since joining our Board, Jack has made meaningful contributions and developed strong relationships,” said Ms. Clark. “Jack’s experience in executive and board leadership roles provide a strong foundation for his leadership of UNFI. The entire board looks forward to working closely with Jack and Sandy as we guide UNFI’s growth and support the entire team in their mission to transform the future of food.”
About Jack Stahl
Mr. Stahl has served in senior leadership positions throughout his career, most recently as President and CEO of Revlon Inc., and currently serves as Lead Director of Catalent, Inc.
Mr. Stahl joined the Company’s Board in June 2019 and has served as the Chair of the Compensation Committee since September 2020.
About Sandy Douglas
Mr. Douglas is a proven, customer-focused, strategic leader who brings a broad background and expertise in distribution, sales, marketing, and e-commerce as the new CEO.
Mr. Douglas most recently served as CEO of Staples, Inc., leading the North American business-to-business distribution platform’s strategic transformation and guiding the Company throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Before Staples, Mr. Douglas served as President of Coca-Cola North America, overseeing the $10 billion revenue business, encompassing all aspects of its consumer and business-to-business operations. During Mr. Douglas’ 30-year tenure at The Coca-Cola Company, he also served as Global Chief Customer Officer and held a variety of leadership positions across sales and marketing.
Mr. Douglas said, “I am honored to join UNFI. The Company’s vision to transform the future of food has never been more important, and the opportunities in front of us are tremendous. Under Steve, UNFI has built a strong foundation for growth, and I look forward to working with UNFI’s exceptional leadership team, the 30,000 hard-working associates across this entire organization, and our Board to continue delivering innovative growth platforms that help make our customers stronger and our operations more successful.”
About United Natural Foods
UNFI is North America’s premier food wholesaler delivering the widest variety of products to customer locations throughout North America including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, eCommerce retailers, and foodservice customers. By providing this deeper ‘full-store selection and compelling brands for every aisle, UNFI is uniquely positioned to deliver great food, more choices, and fresh thinking to customers everywhere. Today, UNFI is the largest publicly traded grocery distributor in America.
For more information: https://www.unfi.com/
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