Providence, Rhode Island-based UNFI said its decision to consolidate four operating regions into three will enhance profitability, speed decision-making and reduce administrative layers.
The restructuring to three regions – East, Central and West – will eliminate about 150 roles, primarily in management or supervisory positions, according to the company.
In March, UNFI named Erin Horvath as chief operating officer and Louis Martin as president of wholesale to better align leadership teams and resources to drive the company’s customer-centric strategy and its four transformation initiatives, which aim to improve efficiency and enhance the customer and supplier experience.
The geographic streamlining across the company is expected to further simplify its structure and provide a more efficient model for supporting UNFI’s independent retailer and regional customer growth.
“These changes are a step in our transformation plan,” Sandy Douglas, CEO, said in a statement.
“The regional realignment will decrease layers of administrative management, increase leaders’ span of geographic responsibility, better align us to serve customers with less complexity and support faster decision making. These changes are also intended to make our company more efficient and more profitable.”
Spanning from Maine to Florida and as far west as Tennessee, the East region will encompass 22 distribution centers and serve more than 10,000 customers. It will be led by Kelly Sosa, region president, East.
The Central region, covering the Mississippi River to the Rockies, comprises 21 states, 16 distribution centers and about 9,000 customers. It will be led by Tandy Harvey, region president, Central.
Led by Bob Garibaldi, region president, the West encompasses 10 states, from Utah to Alaska. It will serve about 11,000 customers from 14 distribution centers.
Sosa, Harvey and Garibaldi will continue reporting to Steve Dietz, chief customer officer.
David Matthews will remain at the helm of UNFI’s national accounts team, which will support the company’s largest national retailers, as well as serving the growing needs of online and e-commerce retailers.
Stacey Kravitz will continue to lead the UNFI Canada business. Both Matthews and Kravitz will still report to Martin.
