Food Wholesalers See Stock Gains

By MARK HAMSTRA

NEW YORK - In a week in which the major stock indices rebounded by about 5%, the stocks of three of the publicly traded food wholesalers each grew by about twice that amount.

United Natural Foods Inc., after posting revenue gains of 15.6% for its fiscal first quarter on Wednesday, saw its stock price surge about 12% for the week.

"We view this top-line acceleration as a strong indication of the resiliency of demand for the natural-product industry," said Andrew Wolf, a Richmond, Va.-based analyst with BB&T Capital Markets.

The Providence, R.I.-based natural and organic product specialist beat analyst estimates for sales growth in the period and detailed aggressive growth plans for Canada.

Also up were Minneapolis-based Nash Finch Co., with a 9% gain for the week, and Spartan Stores, Grand Rapids, Mich., which saw similar gains.

Supervalu, the largest of the publicly traded wholesalers — although most of its volume comes from retail — was off 2% for the week.