Dive Brief:
- United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) has named Andre Persaud as president and CEO of its retail division, effective Nov. 6, the grocery company announced Tuesday.
- Persaud, a former top executive at drug store chain Rite Aid, will oversee UNFI’s Cub Foods and Shoppers Food Warehouse supermarket banners.
- Persaud’s appointment is the latest step by UNFI to overhaul its executive ranks as it looks to return to profitability.
Dive Insight:
UNFI’s announcement that it has hired Persaud to lead its supermarket operations follows the departure earlier this year of Mike Stigers, who left that position with the grocery retailer and wholesaler in May. Stigers is now president of Wakefern Food Corp.
Persaud served most recently as a senior advisor for Alvarez & Marsal's consumer and retail group, a position he began in June, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before joining the management consulting firm, Persaud worked at Rite Aid, which named him executive vice president of retail in February 2020. He became Rite Aid’s chief retail officer in June 2021 and left the company, which last month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, earlier this year.
Persaud previously worked as a senior executive at several other retailers, including Canadian grocery chains Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart.
“Andre is a proven leader with a demonstrated track record of success across a range of retail organizations,” UNFI CEO and President Sandy Douglas said in a statement. “We are excited for Andre to join our team and look forward to the positive contributions he will bring to the Company in this leadership position.”
Persaud, whom UNFI described as “a results-driven and collaborative leader,” faces the task of rejuvenating UNFI’s retail division, which recorded sales of $609 million during the company's latest quarter, a 1.9% year-over-year decline. The unit saw its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fall to $4 million during the quarter, due in part to higher-than-normal expenses connected with newly opened stores, UNFI CFO John Howard said during an earnings call in September.
UNFI’s Cub supermarket banner operates locations mainly in Minnesota, while its Shoppers Food Warehouse stores are concentrated in Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area. The two banners together encompass about 80 stores, according to the company’s latest annual report.
UNFI has made several high-level changes to its leadership over the past year as the company tries to reverse a string of sharp declines in its quarterly financial results, which have helped drag down its stock price by two-thirds over the past year. The upheaval includes the termination of Chris Testa as president in mid-October as well as the appointments in March of Erin Horvath as chief operating officer and Louis Martin as president of wholesale.
In September, UNFI brought on Mario Maffie, a former technology executive of food producer Mars, as chief information officer. Maffie replaced Jack Clare, who left UNFI in November 2022.
