UNFI will close Fort Wayne, Indiana, distribution center

United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) will pull out of Fort Wayne, Ind., during the first quarter of 2025, the wholesale distributor of natural, organic, and specialty foods announced Tuesday.

UNFI is closing a distribution center, which will impact 156 employees. Some truck drivers will be retained as part of restructured transportation operations.

UNFI has now announced three rounds of layoffs over the past four months.

“At UNFI, we continuously evaluate our distribution network to ensure we serve our customers and suppliers as efficiently and effectively as possible,” said UNFI spokesperson Charles Davis in an emailed statement to Supermarket News.

Davis added that customers and suppliers served by the Fort Wayne facility will transition to “nearby modernized distribution centers in our network.”

“Following this transition, our customers will gain access to a broader product assortment, including more fresh options, and our suppliers will be able to reach customers more efficiently,” Davis said.

In October, UNFI, based in Providence, R.I., confirmed it laid off billing, invoice, and payroll personnel in Phoenix. A source close to the matter told SN close to 300 people lost their jobs. UNFI would not say how many were involved. 

The grocery supplier stated that the layoffs and the Fort Wayne distribution center closure are part of a three-year plan to increase customer and supplier value, expand margins, generate free cash flow, and reduce leverage.

UNFI also closed its transportation department at the Harrisburg, Pa., distribution center in June, eliminating 87 positions.

In April the National Labor Relations Board said UNFI could not outsource trucker jobs to nonunion employer J.B. Hunt in Florida, stating the company did not provide pertinent evidence that 80 truck drivers would not lose their jobs. 

The wholesale distributor is facing a class action complaint filed on Nov. 3, accusing it of taking advantage of suppliers by applying prompt-pay discounts even when invoices are not paid on time.

The complaint alleges that UNFI has intentionally and systematically taken prompt-payment discounts to which it is not entitled, using a “difficult-to-catch sleight of hand” that violates supplier agreements.

UNFI said it is reviewing the details of the complaint filed by NYSM Organics LLC and will work through the legal process to determine next steps.