Last updated on June 13th, 2024
The board of directors of United Natural Foods Inc. named a new president and leadership team that will take their positions on Aug. 1.
Chris Testa, who currently serves as president of the Atlantic Region, will become president, overseeing the company’s broadline natural, organic and specialty distribution business in the U.S.; Select Nutrition; e-commerce; and enterprise sales and service. He will continue to oversee branding and communications.
COO Sean Griffin will retire on Oct. 1 but plans to remain engaged with the company as a strategic advisor.
Eric Drone will continue to serve as the company’s chief administrative officer and CIO and also will assume the role of president of Strategic Business Units. In this expanded role, Drone will supervise Albert’s Produce, Woodstock Farms, supplier relationship management and will continue to oversee operations in Canada, Earth Origins Markets, customer care, risk safety and information technology.
Paul Green, who currently serves as president of UNFI’s Pacific Region, will be the company’s chief supply chain officer. He will oversee the company’s supply chain function; its newly created Warehouse Automation group; and transportation and real estate operations.
“Sean’s eight years of outstanding service at UNFI have been invaluable; he played a critical role in the development and success of our company,” said Steve Spinner, UNFI president and CEO. “He has been an amazing partner and mentor to many of our current leadership. In addition, he built a strong team that understands our business and can further drive our strategic plan and enable us to manage through operational challenges that come with our impressive growth. UNFI is better positioned for the future because of Sean’s contributions.”
“When I look back at my career with UNFI, I am most proud of driving the company’s mission forward and having the opportunity to work with, and learn from, so many talented people,” said Griffin. “It has been a great privilege to serve UNFI, and I am now ready to retire with enthusiasm for the company’s future. I am delighted with Chris Testa’s appointment as president, Paul Green’s appointment as chief supply chain officer and the expansion of Eric Drone’s role. I have worked with Chris, Paul and Eric for several years—their unique blend of capabilities, relationships and expertise will continue to be invaluable assets to UNFI.”
UNFI, based in Providence, Rhode Island, distributes more than 110,000 products to more than 43,000 customer locations, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, e-commerce retailers and foodservice customers.
