our goals
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Associate Safety & Well-Being
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Climate Action
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OUR GOAL: Source 20% of our electricity from renewable sources by the end of FY2023.
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MILESTONE ACHIEVED | Improve logistics efficiency and lower delivery costs.
We continue to evaluate, install, and maintain roof-mounted solar at viable distribution centers, including Howell, NJ and Riverside, CA, though on-site solar generation currently represents less than 1% of renewable electricity. This year’s purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) was critical to our ability to achieve this milestone.
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OUR GOAL: Reduce scope 1 and 3 heavy freight well-to-wheel GHG emissions from transportation by 38% per tonne kilometer by 2030.
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A BIT BEHIND | Improve logistics efficiency and lower delivery costs.
This goal tracks an intensity metric based on tonne-kilometers as the denominator, which is a measure of payload-distance. When we established this goal, we projected that tonne-kilometers would increase over time. We’ve actually seen a meaningful decrease over the past few years, which works against progress of this intensity-based metric. Absolute fleet fuel emissions have remained nearly flat – at this stage in our strategy, this is expected because infrastructure and the rollout of new zero-emission fleet technologies is still maturing.
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OUR GOAL: Reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from all other emission sources by 50% by 2030.
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ON TRACK | Improve operating efficiency and lower costs.
Progress is currently depicted using market-based Scope 2 emissions, which is how we plan to track progress moving forward. Though we had an official energy intensity target since 2020, it was phased out this year in favor of our approved facilities-focused science-based target . Using energy efficiently is only half of the equation. We also have to consider the type and impact of the energy used to power our buildings.
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OUR GOAL: Reduce absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services by 25% by the end of FY2030.
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A BIT BEHIND | Support a resilient supply chain for the long term.
We made significant improvements in our greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting methodology, which now captures two major categories – packaging and processing-related emissions – which were not included in our baseline year assessment. While this enhancement has helped lay actionable groundwork for additional supplier engagement, it also ultimately led to an increase in reportable Scope 3 emissions. Because this is not currently an apples-to-apples comparison against previous years’ data, we will need to re-baseline this goal. We will also set a target aligned with the Forest, Land, and Agriculture (FLAG) Guidance in order to track progress more accurately going forward.
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Community Development
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OUR GOAL: Donate 250 million pounds of food (equivalent to approximately 208 million meals) by 2030.
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ON TRACK | Maximize useful life of inventory and support underserved communities.
We partner with Feeding America – the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States – to execute donations with regional food banks throughout the country. Where we have entities that are without a local Feeding America-affiliated food bank, our distribution centers establish partnerships and issue donations to other local banks and pantries working to address hunger.
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OUR GOAL: Log 200,000 associate volunteer hours by 2030.
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A BIT BEHIND | Foster an engaged, purpose-driven workforce.
Due to the efforts over the course of the first half of the year, the number of associate-reported volunteer hours in Q4 more than doubled that of Q3, resulting in an increase of more than 86% for the full year, compared to FY2022. Despite this progress and our improvements from last year, less than 900 associates reported volunteerism hours. We're assessing the feasibility of this goal based on the realities of our workforce, the difficulties in tracking volunteer hours, and our associates’ capacity moving forward.
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Customer Health & Safety
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OUR GOAL: Achieve SQF certification at all applicable distribution centers by the end of FY2025.
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ON TRACK | Ensure the highest standards of food safety and protect consumer confidence.
To continue efforts around this, we entered into a new agreement to improve our external audit program. The full roll out will be completed in FY2024.
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OUR GOAL: Strive for “Green” EcoLab Retail audit rating at all of our retail stores.
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ON TRACK | Ensure the highest standards of food safety and protect consumer confidence.
Our retail team is certified to perform their own audits using the EcoLab approach for Cub Foods and Shoppers locations.
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
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OUR GOAL: Increase our annual inclusive spend to 3% by the end of FY2023.
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MISSED THE MARK | Deliver a better, broader product assortment.
FY2023 marks the official end of this goal, though our inclusive procurement efforts are just getting started. The past few years have highlighted where our main challenges lie, and we’re continuously looking for ways that we can create opportunities for our suppliers. In fact, in FY2023, we began expanding our supplier diversity program into Canada, completing a robust registration process and partnering with suppliers to ensure up-to-date and accurate profile data. We expect to complete a full roll-out of the new program by the end of FY2024 and look forward to including Canada in our supplier diversity metrics in the future.
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OUR GOAL: Close the representation gap among management roles by achieving 50% diverse representation of underrepresented groups by the end of FY2023.
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MILESTONE ACHEIVED | Build a diverse, high-performing, and agile workforce.
The language of this goal recently changed, but the ambition remains the same. In FY2023, the representation of women at UNFI grew 2% in the Director and above bracket and 5% in the Vice President and above bracket. Representation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) associates also grew 2% in the Director and above bracket and 4% in the Vice President and above bracket. We plan to build on this momentum in FY2024 and support continued investment in our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) practice by setting up the infrastructure and partnerships to support continued progress.
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Energy Efficiency
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Though we previously had an official energy intensity target, it was phased out in 2023 in favor of our approved facilities-focused science-based target. That said, this is an important measure of our energy consumption, and we intend to continue monitoring energy intensity either using revenue as an intensity marker or a better alternative once identified.
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Governance
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We don’t formally track goals associated with this focus area at this time.
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Responsible Procurement
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OUR GOAL: Promote soil health through regenerative and organic practices on 1 million acres by 2030.
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A BIT BEHIND | Support a resilient supply chain for the long term.
These acreage tallies currently reflect activation by our UNFI Foundation grantees. We recognize our suppliers are already doing critical work that is underreported in our data, and we're identifying a methodology to better track and amplify their efforts. In FY2023, we started a new cross-functional Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, in which different teams within UNFI will be coming together, with support from Mad Agriculture, to build resources, programs, and processes that advance regenerative and organic practices.
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Waste Reduction
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OUR GOAL:Achieve zero waste to landfills from distribution centers by 2030.
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ON TRACK | Improve operating efficiency and minimize waste disposal costs.
The new Reverse Logistics Disposition Reporting (RLDR) system is live and available at all UNFI distribution centers, including our Tony’s Fine Foods and UNFI Produce sites, and all sites have been trained on how to best use it. As a result, we expect further refined waste reporting to roll out in early 2024.
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OUR GOAL: Reduce food waste from our distribution centers by 50% by the end of FY2025.
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AHEAD OF SCHEDULE | Maximize inventory and reduce supply chain inefficiencies.
This goal has a new baseline to make sure we’re comparing data based on consistent methodologies moving forward. We are eager to work with others in our industry to identify a viable path forward that combats food waste, develops new and improved packaging, and protects the safety of our people.
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