PROVIDENCE, RI - United Natural Foods, Inc. recently announced a new leadership appointment. The company named JJ Schlangen to the position of President of Central Region, effective today. In his new role, Schlangen will lead one of UNFI’s three regional sales divisions and will report to Chief Customer Officer Steve Dietz.

Schlangen joined UNFI in 2015 as a member of Supervalu’s financial analyst team, a press release noted. During his tenure, he has served in a variety of leadership roles of increasing responsibility, helping drive customer profitability and supporting strategic investments in both wholesale and fresh.

Steve Dietz commented on the exciting leadership appointment.

“JJ is a collaborative leader who aligns his teams against both strategy and processes that lead to positive results for customers,” commented Dietz. “He has been a tremendous partner to me over the last several years as we have reimagined our team to focus on helping our retail customers grow, however they are positioned in the market.”

Since 2022, Schlangen has served in the role of Vice President of Sales Strategy and Operations.

In this position, he helped develop and implement new sales training and processes, which enabled the team to close significant new business, and contributed tremendously to the creation of a best-in-class sales and customer support organization.

Schlangen earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota and is also a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Food Industry Management Program.

Congratulations to JJ Schlangen on this new position!