Dive Brief:
- United Natural Foods, Inc. is parting ways with Andre Persaud, president and CEO of the grocery company’s retail division, according to a Monday regulatory filing.
- Persaud, who joined UNFI in November 2023, is set to leave the company on Friday. In the interim, CEO Sandy Douglas will oversee the retail business as the company searches for a successor, the company said in an emailed statement.
- The C-suite change comes as UNFI recovers from a cyberattack in June that hobbled its grocery distribution operations for weeks and is expected to cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Dive Insight:
UNFI did not provide details about why it elected to let go of Persaud, saying only that he is leaving the company in connection with its “continued work to accelerate its retail business strategy” and that he is entitled to severance benefits. But Persaud is departing after leading the company’s retail division through a difficult stretch during which the unit struggled to achieve quarterly sales growth.
“We are grateful for his contributions and wish him well in his next chapter,” UNFI said about Persaud in the statement. “We remain focused on continuing to strengthen our retail business and delivering a welcoming experience for our Cub and Shoppers guests.”
Sales for UNFI’s retail group, which includes the Shoppers and Cub Foods banners, were up by less than 1% year over year during the company’s latest fiscal quarter. UNFI’s retail sales were down during every other quarter that spanned Persaud’s tenure with the exception of the fourth quarter of 2024, when his division turned in quarterly sales growth of more than 3%.
UNFI has recently dealt with financial shocks that have impeded its ability to return to profitability following a forecasting challenge in early 2023 that sent its net income into a tailspin. The company has not turned in positive net income since the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
UNFI expects to absorb a sales hit of between $350 million and $400 million related to a cyberattack that forced it to take down its online ordering systems for several weeks and disrupted its ability to deliver groceries to retail locations, including stores it operates.
The company also decided to end a multi-year contract it signed in 2021 with Key Food that proved unworkable because of transportation-related issues. The company had expected the deal to bring in $1 billion in annual sales during its 10-year duration.
Persaud, a former top executive at drug store chain Rite Aid who also has experience working for management consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, drew accolades from UNFI when he joined the company. Douglas called Persaud “a proven leader with a demonstrated track record of success” in announcing that it had selected him to help the company regain its financial strength.
Persaud replaced Mike Stigers, who left in May 2023 to become president of Wakefern Food Corp., as UNFI’s top retail executive.
