The largest publicly traded wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in the United States and Canada,[3][4] it is Whole Foods Market's main supplier, with their traffic making up over a third of its revenue in 2018.

[6] Since 1996, other regional distributors have merged with UNFI, filling in the distribution footprint and making UNFI the largest distributor of natural products.

[9] This agreement was terminated by Safeway in July 2015,[10] leading to a drop in share price and two rounds of layoffs, the first in the company's history.

In 2012, UNFI partnered with Buyer's Best Friend to create a unified reordering system.

[clarification needed][11] In 2016, the company completed the acquisition of Nor-Cal produce, Inc.,[12] Haddon House Food Products, Inc.,[13] and Gourmet Guru, Inc.[14] On October 22, 2018, UNFI completed the acquisition of SuperValu, Inc.[15]