Last updated on July 18th, 2015 at 10:18 am
AccelFoods, which partners with innovative new food and beverage companies coming to market, is expanding its relationship with natural, organic and specialty food distributor United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) of Providence, Rhode Island.
This relationship provides AccelFoods and its portfolio companies a number of opportunities to be the first brands involved in several new UNFI initiatives, including the launch of a UNFI Regional Supplier Relationship Manager program and a New York City-based Specialty Gourmet & Ethnic sales team, as well as increased support from a senior supplier Relationship Manager for AccelFoods’ portfolio companies. UNFI also has agreed to co-host AccelFoods’ Class III Demo Day on Oct. 27, with Steven Spinner, UNFI president and CEO, serving as keynote speaker.
UNFI now will offer a hands-on partnership to a select portfolio of earlier stage companies, facilitating their growth within the UNFI system through involvement with a Regional Supplier Relationship Manager.
The first Regional SRM will be based at UNFI’s Racine, Wisconsin, distribution center and will launch with Fresh Bar, a Minneapolis-based AccelFoods portfolio company. UNFI has plans to quickly expand the program to other distribution centers, including Gilroy, California; Denver, Colorado; and Hudson Valley, New York.
In addition, AccelFoods portfolio company Bandar Foods will be one of a select group of companies participating in the launch of UNFI’s Gourmet & Ethnic sales team, a dedicated group focused on non-traditional retail channels in New York City.
“UNFI is committed to partnering with new businesses from the earliest point of inception. UNFI’s relationship with AccelFoods provides us with the opportunity to work in unique ways with some of the highest growth, early stage companies in the market,” said Don McIntyre, UNFI SVP-national supply chain and strategy and president-West Region.
“While the specifics will vary depending on the needs of each AccelFoods portfolio company, we are excited about the growing relationship between UNFI and AccelFoods,” McIntyre added.
