Exhibit 99.1
[LETTERHEAD OF UNITED NATURAL FOODS, INC.]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2006
UNITED NATURAL FOODS, INC. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
RESIGNS TO ACCEPT NEW POSITION;
COMPANY APPOINTS ACTING CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Dayville, Connecticut - January 17, 2006 -- United Natural Foods, Inc., (Nasdaq:
UNFI) (the "Company") today announced that Rick Puckett has resigned as
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, effective
January 27, 2006, to accept the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer position at a publicly traded company that does not compete with United
Natural Foods. Mr. Puckett has been with the Company since January 2003. Mr.
Puckett will remain with the Company until January 27, 2006, to assist with
transition matters, and will further assist the Company with the preparation and
filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter of fiscal
2006. Mark E. Shamber, currently Vice President and Corporate Controller, has
been appointed the Company's Chief Accounting Officer and will serve as United
Natural Foods' acting Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer while the Company
conducts a search of internal and external candidates to fill the Chief
Financial Officer role. Mr. Shamber will report directly to Michael Funk,
President and Chief Executive Officer.
"We thank Rick for his significant contributions to the organization. His
efforts have helped lead the Company to a solid financial position with a strong
finance and accounting team. We wish him the best in his new position," said Mr.
Funk.
"While we conduct our search, we are assigning a proven performer to this key
position. Mark has a strong working knowledge of United Natural Foods'
operations and systems as well as all aspects of the Company's financial
reporting and corporate governance. In addition to his work on the Company's
internal financial reporting and SEC filings, Mark recently led our successful
efforts to implement the Section 404 requirements of the Sarbanes Oxley Act
regarding internal controls."
Mr. Shamber has served as Vice President since August 2005 and as the Company's
Corporate Controller since June 2003. From February 1995 until June 2003, prior
to joining UNFI, he worked for the international accounting firm of Ernst &
Young LLP within the assurance and advisory business systems practice, serving
in various positions of increasing responsibility up to and including senior
manager. Prior to that, Mr. Shamber also worked within the finance department at
Reebok International Ltd. He is a member of the AICPA and MSCPA and holds a CPA
license from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr. Shamber graduated from
Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts with a BS in Accountancy.
Mr. Puckett commented, "Working with everyone at United was very rewarding and I
believe the Company has the necessary management depth, expertise and resources
to achieve all its goals. While the decision to leave United Natural Foods was
difficult, the prospects of this new opportunity were too great to pass up."
Conference Call Details
The Company announced that it will host a conference call and audio webcast on
Tuesday, January 17, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss today's news.
Interested parties may access the conference call by dialing (303) 262-2140. The
audio webcast will be available, on a listen only basis, via the Internet at the
Company's website, http://www.unfi.com. Please allow extra time prior to the
webcast to visit the site and download any software required to listen to the
Internet broadcast. A replay of the call will be available through January 24,
2006 by dialing (303) 590-3000 and entering pass-code 11050935. The online
archive of the webcast will be available for 30 days.
About United Natural Foods
United Natural Foods, Inc. carries and distributes more than 40,000 products to
more than 20,000 customers nationwide. The Company serves a wide variety of
retail formats including conventional supermarket chains, natural product
superstores, independent retail operators and the food service channel.
For more information on United Natural Foods, Inc., visit the Company's website
at www.unfi.com.
AT THE COMPANY: FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Shamber Joseph Calabrese
acting Chief Financial Officer General Information
(860) 779-2800 (212) 827-3772
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995: Statements in this press release regarding the Company's business that are
not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and
uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could
cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, including but not limited to general business conditions, the impact
of competition and our dependence on principal customers, see "Risk Factors" in
the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on
December 7, 2005, and its other filings under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended. Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of
the date made. The Company is not undertaking to update any information in the
foregoing reports until the effective date of its future reports required by
applicable laws. Any projections of future results of operations should not be
construed in any manner as a guarantee that such results will in fact occur.
These projections are subject to change and could differ materially from final
reported results. The Company may from time to time update these publicly
announced projections, but it is not obligated to do so.
Non-GAAP Results: To supplement its financial statements presented on a basis of
generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP),
the Company uses non-GAAP additional measures of operating results, net earnings
and earnings per share adjusted to exclude special charges. The Company believes
that the use of these additional measures is appropriate to enhance an overall
understanding of its past financial performance and also its prospects for the
future as these special charges are not expected to be part of the Company's
ongoing business. The adjustments to the Company's GAAP results are made with
the intent of providing both management and investors with a more complete
understanding of the underlying operational results and trends and its
marketplace performance. For example, these adjusted non-GAAP results are among
the primary indicators management uses as a basis for its planning and
forecasting of future periods. The presentation of this additional information
is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net earnings
or diluted earnings per share prepared in accordance with GAAP.