Dive Brief:
- United Natural Foods, Inc. has opened a new distribution center in Sarasota, Florida, that is replete with automation technology designed to boost order accuracy and efficiency, the grocery wholesaler and distributor announced Tuesday.
- The equipment will help UNFI improve its ability to serve grocers while also cutting operating costs and improving working conditions for employees, according to the company.
- UNFI broke ground on the distribution center in mid-2023, shortly after it laid out plans to overhaul its supply chain capabilities through investments in automation technology.
Dive Insight:
The 1-million-square-foot facility is UNFI’s first distribution center equipped with Pick-it-Easy robots from warehouse logistics firm Knapp, which use artificial intelligence to identify physical characteristics of goods as they grip and move them. The distribution center, which employs more than 400 people, also has a system from Knapp that delivers products directly to workers.
The company noted in Tuesday’s announcement that it has also added automation gear to distribution centers in other locations, including Centralia, Washington; and Carlisle and Manchester, Pennsylvania.
UNFI has been focusing over the past two years on what CEO Sandy Douglas has described as a “transformation agenda” aimed at improving its performance following forecasting challenges that emerged in 2023 and led to a sharp decline in the company’s profitability.
While the company has made progress toward strengthening its operations since that point, it has also dealt with costly setbacks.
In June, UNFI was hit by a cyberattack that forced it to temporarily take down its online ordering systems, severely impairing its ability to fulfill orders from retailers. The company later said it expected the intrusion to result in at least $350 million in lost sales.
UNFI also revealed in June that it had mutually agreed to cut short a multi-year distribution agreement with Key Food that had been expected to drive $10 billion in sales over a 10-year term. The company said the decision would lead to the closure of a distribution center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
