United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) used its December 2025 investor day to lay out an expanded ecommerce strategy.
It aims to reposition the company from a traditional grocery wholesaler into a technology-enabled growth partner for independent retailers and consumer brands. Executives said ecommerce tools, digital services, retail media and artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming central to UNFI’s operating model, both as new revenue drivers and as levers to improve efficiency across its national distribution network.
“We’re driving a step change in digital capabilities by focusing on simplicity, performance and efficiency,” chief information officer Mario Maffei told investors during the Dec. 10 event. “Technology is becoming foundational to how we serve customers, suppliers and communities.”
UNFI’s leadership framed ecommerce not as a standalone initiative. Rather, they said ecommerce is an extension of its wholesale business. It has designed the channel to help independent grocers compete with national chains and mass merchants that have invested heavily in ecommerce, pricing technology and data-driven merchandising.
UNFI drives growth through its retail media network
At the center of that effort is a growing portfolio of digital and professional services. They now account for roughly one-quarter of UNFI’s adjusted EBITDA, up from about 22% three years ago.
UNFI executives said those services are growing faster than the core wholesale business and carry higher margins. The services include ecommerce enablement, digital ordering tools, loyalty integrations, payments processing and retail media.
“We see significant opportunity to deepen engagement,” president and chief financial officer Giorgio Tarditi said.
He noted that most customers currently use only a fraction of the services available to them.
A major theme of the investor day was UNFI’s retail media network. It allows consumer packaged goods suppliers to advertise across thousands of independent grocery stores through digital, in-store and off-site channels. Unlike retailer-owned media platforms, UNFI positions itself as a shared infrastructure provider, giving smaller retailers access to targeting and measurement capabilities they could not build on their own.
Louis Martin, UNFI’s president of conventional grocery products and chief commercial officer, said the company is tailoring retail media offerings to fit the technological maturity of each retailer, rather than pushing a one-size-fits-all solution. Early adopters are using the platform to target price-sensitive and lapsed shoppers, with early signs of increased transactions and unit volume, executives said.
How UNFI is growing its ecommerce business — and where AI fits in
UNFI also previewed a new “endless aisle” ecommerce initiative it designed to expand digital assortment without increasing inventory risk. The program allows retailers to sell products that are not stocked in local distribution centers, particularly emerging natural and specialty brands that are still scaling.
Executives said the model is intended to speed product discovery while giving suppliers earlier access to UNFI’s retail network.
“Those items deserve visibility, even if they don’t yet belong in a warehouse,” CEO Sandy Douglas said.
Artificial intelligence featured prominently in discussions of both ecommerce and supply chain operations. UNFI said it has deployed AI-enabled demand forecasting and replenishment software from Relex across roughly half of its distribution centers, with a full rollout planned in fiscal 2026. Early results include improved fill rates and reduced inventory days on hand, according to management.
Beyond forecasting, the company said it is beginning to explore AI-driven tools to simplify customer ordering and purchasing decisions, while remaining cautious about cost and operational risk.
“The potential for AI is immense, but it has to be embedded in applications that deliver measurable outcomes,” Maffei said.
UNFI is also in the initial stages of a multiyear effort to simplify its technology stack, which currently includes more than 475 systems. The company has begun implementing SAP as its core enterprise platform, starting with master data, to improve real-time visibility across ecommerce, merchandising and supply chain operations.
Management tied the digital investments directly to margin expansion, projecting adjusted EBITDA margins to rise from 1.7% in fiscal 2025 to about 2.4% by fiscal 2028. Executives said higher-margin digital services, combined with AI-enabled productivity gains, will be critical to achieving that target.
Retailers, Douglas said, are demanding more than delivery and pricing from their distributors.
“They need a partner that can help them compete digitally,” he said. “That’s where UNFI is investing.”
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