Interview with Nasoya Founder John Paino of Paino Foods
Time and time again we’ve seen industry pioneers return to the game after a long absence, recovering from burning the natural and organic candle seven days a week. Add John Paino co-founder of Nasoya Foods to the growing list. If you don’t know Nasoya you aren’t eating tofu. Paino and his partner founded the tofu […]
Tree of Life To Be Sold—UNFI Purported Suitor
While not as mighty as General Motors, to those who grew up in the industry during the 1980’s Tree of Life’s demise signals the complete transformation of the industry. Consolidation is king! Once upon a time natural distribuors were regional, all with the exception of Tree. Rock Island and Stow Mills in the Northeast, Mountain […]
United Natural Foods Conference Call—Will Wall Street See Roses in the Warehouse?
For a long time we’ve been wondering when Wall Street would wake up and smell the roses lurking in the forklifts, warehouses and trucks emblazoned with the United Natural Foods logo. UNFI’s recent conference call shows us more reasons why we wonder. The call suggests what we’ve said all along, that the company’s acquisition of […]
Westport Whole Foods Shoppers Remind Us How Much Wild Oats Missed the Mark
Two weeks ago, we spent a few hours in the Westport Whole Foods Market that was formerly Wild Oats. Actually, it used be a terrific independent store that was then bought by distributor United Natural Food’s NRG retail group . Wild Oats bought it from UNFI and when the Safeway right next door closed, they knocked down […]
Whole Foods, United Natural, Get Happy–Will Manufacturers Feel the Pain
NBN remembers the old days back when we were the grocery buyer for a small Connecticut independent (actually, in those days all the stores were independent). Cornucopia was our primary distributor but we ordered from Stow Mills and Tree of Life in the Northeast. No doubt increased consolidation offers both retailers and distributors advantages, allowing […]
UNFI Posts Huge Growth for Fourth Quarter
United Natural Foods released strong figures for the fourth quarter that leaving analysts and others yelling the equivalent of “VA va va voom, baby, shake it!” UNFI sales increased 22% for the quarter and 23% for the fiscal year, with yearly earnings of $41.6. on over $2 billion in sales. UNFI cited increased sales from […]