United Natural Foods, Inc. to Acquire Gourmet Guru
PROVIDENCE, RI - United Natural Foods, Inc. has announced it has acquired all outstanding stock of distributor and merchandiser of fresh and organic foods, Gourmet Guru, for an undisclosed amount, in an all cash transaction.
“We are excited to strengthen our expertise in identifying new and fast-growing health and wellness brands with the strategic acquisition of Gourmet Guru,” commented Steven Spinner, UNFI’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to working with Jeff Lichtenstein, CEO of Gourmet Guru, who will remain at the company in a leadership role.”
Gourmet Guru was founded in 1996, and mainly focuses on new and emerging brands. According to a press release, the acquisition enhances UNFI’s strength in both finding and cultivating emerging fresh and organic brands, while also further expanding UNFI’s presence in key urban markets.
“Gourmet Guru brings diverse skills in merchandising and service, targeting cities and high traffic locations, which will enhance UNFI’s unique ability to deliver on the most innovative and local brands,” said Kirsten Hogan, UNFI’s National Vice President of Retail Services.
The newly-acquired company had $50 million in net sales for the twelve months ending in June 30, 2016, the release reports. The companies expect the transaction to be neutral to UNFI’s fiscal 2017 earnings and modestly accretive to UNFI’s earnings in Fiscal 2018.
“UNFI recognizes the importance of helping exciting and new producers of fresh and organic foods and Gourmet Guru is proud to become a part of UNFI,” added Lichtenstein, Gourmet Guru’s CEO. “We look forward to helping UNFI bring exciting and differentiated products to market.”
UNFI carries and distributes more than 90,000 products to more than 45,000 customer locations throughout the United States and Canada.
