Wednesday, June 29, 2016

UNFI Supplier Community Update - July 2016

Welcome and thanks for checking in on our latest news for suppliers.   


Remember that UNFI’s Supplier Support site is your 24/7 resource for forms, documents, contacts and information.  


Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) Updates

Nicholas Medeiros, Associate SRM, has left UNFI to pursue other opportunities.  Please direct any inquiries on Kosher or Hispanic to Joe Roy as we look for Nick’s replacement.

Click here for the current list of SRM contacts, category and line assignments.


Inventory Planning and Replenishment (IPAR) 

An updated IPAR contact list has been posted on the UNFI Supplier Support Site.  

Gilroy, CA Distribution Center: The final phase of customer moves from Rocklin to Gilroy was completed on June 26.  The service out of Gilroy to our customers has been stellar! The distribution center has fully integrated itself into the Gilroy community.


Haddon House Update

Haddon House’s Chicago area customers will be served from UNFI’s Racine distribution center beginning in July.  As part of this move, we have greatly expanded our Gourmet and Ethnic product mix in Racine.


2017 Table Top Show Schedule and New Locations

Start planning for 2017 today! All 2017 UNFI Tabletop Shows are available for registration. We are excited to announce our new location for the 2017 West Region Show – Long Beach, CA.  This show will be hosted by UNFI, Tony’s Fine Foods, Select Nutrition and Albert’s Organics! Use the following link to lock in your spot: http://www.cvent.com/d/vfqs6y

  • Orlando Tabletop Show: February 7-8, 2017; New location! Loews Sapphire Falls
  • Foxwoods Tabletop Show: May 17-18, 2017
  • Long Beach Tabletop Show: May 23-24, 2017; New location! Long Beach Convention Center
  • Hawaii Tabletop Show: Dates and location TBA


UNFI Supplier Portal 

Last September, UNFI began the journey to implement tools and processes to enhance our supplier relationships and to bring efficiency and ease to completing our mutual daily tasks. The largest part of this effort is the introduction of our Supplier Portal.  

The purpose of the Supplier Portal is to facilitate the exchange of information between suppliers and UNFI and to include suppliers in various workflows to ensure that your products are brought to market efficiently and accurately.  

The first phase of the Supplier Portal introduced 2 fundamental components:

  • Management of supplier contact and warehouse information
  • New item submissions and tracking

Since the initial launch, we have discovered ways to improve the new item process in the Portal to increase ease of use and efficiencies.  We are currently working on improvements and expect to launch new features this fall.  Included are improved search capability, marketing support, supplier number visibility, freight and transportation and automation new item upload into our business systems.

The second phase of the Supplier Portal is to introduce promotions functionality, which will increase ease and accuracy for you when submitting promotions.

We view this as a journey and a collaboration with suppliers for mutual benefit.  We will continue to add functionality to our Supplier Portal as part of our ongoing plan.  Currently under consideration are: support for deductions and disputes, data exchange integration, announcements, price changes, pack changes, and overall improvements to usability.  Please feel free to contact Deb Maynard, dmaynard@unfi.com, with suggestions for Supplier Portal functionality that would benefit you.

UNFI’s Supplier Portal is located at https://suppliers.onunfi.com/.   If your company has not yet used the Supplier Portal, please contact your SRM for access. 


Updated New Item Forms

Click on https://unfinc.zendesk.com/home to visit the UNFI Supplier Support site for updated New Item Forms.  Please update your current forms to the newest version OR begin to send all new item submissions through our Supplier Portal

The form has been updated as follows:
East and West item numbers will now be listed on one returned form upon completion.
The Beverage Items area now includes all needed information in one location.
A check box to allow the user to validate that all needed information has been completed. 



Sign On to Grow Organic!

Remember “Got Milk?” and “The Other White Meat”? -- these hugely successful promotional programs were the result of USDA ‘check-off’ programs.  Checkoff programs empower an industry to establish its own goals, fund research and education, and decide how best to develop new markets and strengthen current marketing.  Imagine what a check off program could do for Organics!  Find out more, add your support and spread the word – ask your colleagues to add their support! 


Situational, Digital and eCommerce Marketing

Situational Marketing  

Are you back in stock after a long-term out, have a major new certification or substantial product innovation launch?  UNFI can get the word out via email campaigns targeted to your desired customer segments.  Includes post-campaign engagement reporting to measure your impact.   Contact your SRM for more information on this exciting new opportunity.

Digital HEALTHY Clippings® Coupons 

UNFI is currently looking for supplier partners to participate in the launch of our newest digital option:  HEALTHY Clippings® coupons.  Feature your best sellers or newest items to gain consumers for trial.  Contact Alana Mahdalik at amahdalik@unfi.com.

eCommerce Marketing 

Reach etailers with banner ads, email marketing and sampling programs through UNFI’s Honest Green eCommerce division. eCommerce is the fastest growing segment of the business – offering new and effective marketing opportunities for our suppliers. These new, affordable options are great opportunities for suppliers with products in our Philadelphia or Hudson Valley warehouses. Contact Laurie Donohue at ldonohue@unfi.com.


UNFI Sales Update

In our March 14, 2016 post we announced our One Team approach for our outside sales associates. As a reminder, starting August 2016, our outside sales associates from UNFI, Tony’s Fine Foods, Albert’s Organics, and Select Nutrition will begin to collaborate as one team.  Each sales territory will be supported by a team comprised of Grocery, Fresh, and Wellness experts from UNFI, Tony’s Fine Foods, Albert’s Organics and Select Nutrition.

We look forward to this transition and expect little to no impact on our supplier community at this time. Specifically, for suppliers, this means: 

  • No changes to the product set up process.
  • No changes to the buying team or process.
  • Your current SRM will remain unchanged. 
  • Purchase order processes will not change. 
  • We can better leverage our category expertise to represent your brand in a more meaningful way. 

We will share more information in the coming months. In the meantime, you may contact onesalesteam@unfi.com with any questions. 

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