United Natural Foods, Inc. confirmed to Grocery Dive on Wednesday that Jody Barrick has retired from her role as senior vice president of fresh meat, seafood, bakery and deli.
Jerry Goldsmith, the distributor’s senior vice president of fresh conventional, now leads UNFI’s conventional fresh business with expanded responsibilities that unify the grocery distributor’s meat, produce, bakery and deli teams, UNFI Fresh President Ron Selders said in an emailed statement. Selders noted that bringing these teams together will “strengthen collaboration and support our customers’ growth strategies.”
Barrick announced her departure in a Tuesday LinkedIn post, noting that she has spent more than 40 years in the grocery industry and is now launching her own business, called Perimeter Partners.
“It’s hard to put four decades into a few paragraphs. I’ve had the opportunity to work across retail, manufacturing, and wholesale and lead alongside some of the most talented people in the fresh industry,” she wrote in the post.
Barrick’s retirement news comes on the heels of UNFI’s release of its fourth-quarter results, which showed improved financial performance that reflects the success of the company’s ongoing turnaround efforts. These efforts include investments in supply chain, technology and productivity initiatives, CEO Sandy Douglas told investors Tuesday.
