GE finance veteran to join United Natural Foods

Dive Brief:

United Natural Foods Inc. said Wednesday that it appointed GE veteran Giorgio Matteo Tarditi to become its president and CFO, effective April 15.
Tarditi, 51, succeeds John Howard, who will separate from UNFI at the end of May, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The publicly traded food distributor announced Howard’s exit as it reported weak quarterly sales, the latest in a string of financial challenges.
“Matteo is a proven executive who, over the course of his more than 26 years at GE, served as CFO for seven business units, including Renewable Energy and Energy Connections as externally reported segments, and large divisions of the Power, Oil & Gas, Aerospace, and Healthcare businesses,” UNFI CEO Sandy Douglas said in a press release.

Dive Insight:

UNFI, based in Providence, Rhode Island, is a wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in the U.S. and Canada.

The company’s net sales decreased 0.5% to $7.8 billion in its second quarter ending Jan. 27, with a net loss of $15 million, according to results released Wednesday. In December, the company recorded a $39 million net loss during its fiscal 2024 first quarter.

“Following a prolonged period of high inflation, consumers are continuing to buy less and are shifting some purchases away from the traditional grocery channel,” Douglas said during a Wednesday earnings call. “This has led to negative volumes across the retail food industry and share gains by mass merchandisers and discounters.”

The company is focused on driving “improved profitability, cost management, innovation and service levels across the short and long term,” the CEO said.

Howard is leaving UNFI after a stint of more than four years at the company, according to his LinkedIn profile. He started as a senior vice president of finance in July 2019 and became CFO in February 2020 after briefly serving in the latter role on an interim basis.

His separation results in a “qualifying termination,” which means that he will receive severance benefits, according to the SEC filing. Tarditi will receive an annual base salary of $800,000 and an annual cash bonus with a value of 100% of his base salary based on achievement of goals and objectives, the filing said.

Tarditi currently serves as group FP&A leader at GE, a position he has held for about two and a half years. He previously served in finance leadership roles across various segments of GE including Aerospace, Oil & Gas, Drilling and Production, Grid Solutions, Energy Connections, and Power Services.

“This transition comes at a natural point as UNFI looks to move to the next chapter of its history,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Matteo brings a wide range of skills that the Company sought as it looked for its new CFO, including a proven track record managing change, balancing business transformation with daily operations and management, as well as delivering on financial performance. Additionally, UNFI believes his skill set will complement the existing work the Company is doing to restore and improve profitability.”

During the Wednesday call, Howard said he looked forward to working with Tarditi during the transition period over coming months.

“Our finance leadership team is awaiting Matteo's start date and we're already preparing for his on-boarding process and expect a quick and smooth handoff,” Howard said.

UNFI is one of several public companies in recent months that have released quarterly earnings results while also announcing financial leadership changes, a move that is sometimes viewed as a “best practice” messaging strategy aiming at telegraphing an orderly succession, CFO Dive previously reported.