United Natural Foods, Inc.’s (UNFI’s) CEO of Retail, Mike Stigers, resigned from his position on Monday, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Stigers will remain with UNFI until May 31 to ensure a smooth transition.
Stigers plans to pursue a different unspecified professional opportunity, the filing notes.
Stigers joined UNFI in 2019 following the company’s acquisition of fellow distributor Supervalu. Since then, he has served as CEO of Cub Foods as well as executive vice president of UNFI Fresh. UNFI’s retail division consists of the Cub Foods chain in the Twin Cities along with the Shoppers Food & Pharmacy chain in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Prior to the 2018 acquisition, Stigers was Supervalu’s executive vice president of wholesale supply chain services and logistics. Stigers has also served as president of Shaw’s/Star Markets and chief operating officer of PW Supermarkets.
After UNFI acquired Supervalu, the distributor sold off numerous retail stores, including all locations under the former Hornbacher’s and Farm Fresh banners. UNFI also worked to sell off Cub Foods, the market share leader among Twin Cities grocers, but decided to retain the company along with its Shoppers chain after the pandemic boosted sales. Since then, UNFI has invested in store remodels and a few new locations.
UNFI is also pushing ahead with what it’s calling its “transformation agenda,” which involves streamlining supply chain operations, improving shareholder value, growing network automation and optimization, simplifying its pricing and procurements processes and enhancing digital offerings as well as modernizing digital infrastructure.
Leadership changes have played a part in overseeing the success of this transformation, as the company announced Wednesday the promotions of two senior executives: Erin Horvath to chief operating officer and Louis Martin to president of wholesale.
The road to transformation is proving a bumpy one, however, as earlier this month UNFI reported a significant profit drop after it overestimated benefits in procuring products from suppliers.
Sam Silverstein contributed reporting to this story.
