SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Nature of Business

United Natural Foods, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a leading distributor of natural, organic, specialty, and conventional grocery and non-food products, and provider of support services. On October 22, 2018, we acquired all of the outstanding equity securities of SUPERVALU INC. (“Supervalu”); refer to Note 4. “Acquisitions” for further information. The Company sells its products primarily throughout the United States and Canada.

Fiscal Year

Our fiscal years end on the Saturday closest to July 31 and contain either 52 or 53 weeks. References to the third quarter of fiscal 2019 and 2018 relate to the 13-week fiscal quarters ended April 27, 2019 and April 28, 2018, respectively. References to fiscal 2019 and 2018 year-to-date relate to the 39-week fiscal periods ended April 27, 2019 and April 28, 2018, respectively.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Unless otherwise indicated, references to the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income and the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets in the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements exclude all amounts related to discontinued operations. Refer to Note 19. “Discontinued Operations” for additional information, including accounting policies, about our discontinued operations.

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for interim financial information, including the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain information and note disclosures normally required in complete financial statements prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States have been condensed or omitted. In the Company’s opinion, these Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented. However, the results of operations for interim periods may not be indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 28, 2018 (the “Annual Report”). Except as described below, there were no material changes in significant accounting policies from those described in the Company’s Annual Report.

Net sales consist primarily of sales of natural, organic, specialty, and conventional grocery and non-food products to retailers, adjusted for customer volume discounts, returns, and allowances, and professional services revenue. Net sales also include amounts charged by the Company to customers for shipping and handling and fuel surcharges. The Company recognizes freight revenue related to transportation of its products when control of the product is transferred, which is typically upon delivery. The principal components of cost of sales include the amounts paid to suppliers for product sold, plus the cost of transportation necessary to bring the product to, or move product between, the Company’s distribution facilities, offset by consideration received from suppliers in connection with the purchase, transportation, or promotion of the suppliers’ products. Cost of sales also includes amounts incurred by the Company’s manufacturing subsidiary, United Natural Trading, LLC, which does business as Woodstock Farms Manufacturing, for inbound transportation costs. Operating expenses include salaries and wages, employee benefits, warehousing and delivery, selling, occupancy, insurance, administrative, share-based compensation, depreciation, and amortization expense. Other expense (income), net includes interest on outstanding indebtedness, including direct financing and capital lease obligations, net periodic benefit plan income, excluding service costs, interest income and miscellaneous income and expenses.

As noted above, the Company includes shipping and handling fees billed to customers in net sales. Shipping and handling costs associated with inbound freight are generally recorded in cost of sales, whereas shipping and handling costs for receiving, selecting, quality assurance, and outbound transportation are recorded in operating expenses. Outbound shipping and handling costs, including allocated employee benefit expenses that are recorded in Operating expenses, totaled $370.8 million and $148.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 and 2018, respectively. Outbound shipping and handling costs, including allocated employee benefit expenses, totaled $908.2 million and $432.8 million for the first 39 weeks of fiscal 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Vendor Funds

The Company receives funds from many of the vendors whose products it buys for resale. These vendor funds are provided to increase the sell-through of the related products. The Company receives vendor funds for a variety of merchandising activities; placement of the vendors’ products in its advertising; display of the vendors’ products in prominent locations in stores; supporting the introduction of new products into stores and distribution centers; exclusivity rights in certain categories; and to compensate for temporary price reductions offered to customers on products held for sale. The Company also receives vendor funds for buying activities such as volume commitment rebates, credits for purchasing products in advance of their need and cash discounts for the early payment of merchandise purchases. The majority of the vendor fund contracts have terms of less than a year, with a small proportion of the contracts longer than one year.

The Company recognizes vendor funds for merchandising activities as a reduction of Cost of sales when the related products are sold. Vendor funds that have been earned as a result of completing the required performance under the terms of the underlying agreements but for which the product has not yet been sold are recognized as a reduction to the cost of inventory.

Business Dispositions

The Company reviews the presentation of planned business dispositions in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements based on the available information and events that have occurred. The review consists of evaluating whether the business meets the definition of a component for which the operations and cash flows are clearly distinguishable from the other components of the business, and if so, whether it is anticipated that after the disposal the cash flows of the component would be eliminated from continuing operations and whether the disposition represents a strategic shift that has a major effect on operations and financial results. In addition, the Company evaluates whether the business has met the criteria as a business held for sale. In order for a planned disposition to be classified as a business held for sale, the established criteria must be met as of the reporting date, including an active program to market the business and the expected disposition of the business within one year.

Planned business dispositions are presented as discontinued operations when all the criteria described above are met. Operations of the business components meeting the discontinued operations requirements are presented within Income from discontinued operations, net of tax in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, and assets and liabilities of the business component planned to be disposed of are presented as separate lines within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. See Note 19. “Discontinued Operations” for additional information.

The carrying value of the business held for sale is reviewed for recoverability upon meeting the classification requirements. Evaluating the recoverability of the assets of a business classified as held for sale follows a defined order in which property and intangible assets subject to amortization are considered only after the recoverability of goodwill, indefinite lived intangible assets and other assets are assessed. After the valuation process is completed, the held for sale business is reported at the lower of its carrying value or fair value less cost to sell, and no additional depreciation or amortization expense is recognized.

There are inherent judgments and estimates used in determining the fair value less costs to sell of a business and any impairment charges. The sale of a business can result in the recognition of a gain or loss that differs from that anticipated prior to closing.

Benefit Plans

The Company recognizes the funded status of its company-sponsored defined benefit plans, which it acquired in the first quarter of fiscal 2019 through the acquisition of Supervalu, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and gains or losses and prior service costs or credits not yet recognized as a component of Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax, in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company sponsors pension and other postretirement plans in various forms covering employees who meet eligibility requirements. The determination of the Company’s obligation and related income or expense for Company-sponsored pension and other postretirement benefits is dependent, in part, on management’s selection of certain actuarial assumptions in calculating these amounts. These assumptions include, among other things, the discount rate, the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the rates of increase in healthcare and compensation costs. These assumptions are disclosed in Note 17. “Benefit Plans”. Actual results that differ from the assumptions are accumulated and amortized over future periods.

The Company contributes to various multiemployer pension plans under collective bargaining agreements, primarily defined benefit pension plans. Pension expense for these plans is recognized as contributions are funded. See Note 17. “Benefit Plans” for additional information on participation in multiemployer plans.

The Company also contributes to 401(k) retirement savings plans for its employees.

Change in Accounting Estimate

As a result of growth in net sales and inventory for the 13 and 39-week periods ended April 28, 2018, and the changes in processing and the resulting increase in the Company’s estimate of its accrual for inventory purchases the Company initiated a review of its vendor invoicing processes and undertook a review of its estimate of its accrual for inventory purchases. In the third quarter of fiscal 2018, the Company finalized its analysis and review of its accrual for inventory purchases, including a historical data analysis of unmatched and partially matched amounts that were aged greater than twelve months and the ultimate resolution of such aged accruals. Based on its analysis, the Company determined that it could reasonably estimate the outcome of its partially matched vendor invoices upon receipt of such invoice rather than when the amount was aged greater than twelve months and a liability was no longer considered probable. As a result of this change in estimate, accounts payable was reduced by $20.9 million, resulting in an increase to net income of $13.9 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for both the 13 and 39-weeks ended April 28, 2018.

Change in Inventory Accounting Policy

Inventories are valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value. For historical United Natural Foods, Inc. inventory prior to the acquisition of Supervalu, cost was determined using the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method. For a substantial portion of legacy Supervalu inventory, cost was determined using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method, with the rest primarily determined using FIFO. Inventories acquired as part of the Supervalu acquisition were recorded at their fair market values as of the acquisition date. During the second quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company completed its evaluation of its combined inventory accounting policies and changed its method of inventory costing for certain historical United Natural Foods, Inc. inventory from the FIFO accounting method to the LIFO accounting method. The Company concluded that the LIFO method of inventory costing is preferable because it allows for better matching of costs and revenues, as historical inflationary inventory acquisition prices are expected to continue in the future and the LIFO method uses the current acquisition cost to value cost of goods sold as inventory is sold. Additionally, LIFO allows for better comparability of the results of the Company’s operations with those of similar companies in its peer group. As a result of the change to the LIFO method, certain Company inventories, excluding Supervalu inventories, were reduced by $4.1 million and $7.3 million for the 13- and 39-week periods ended April 27, 2019, respectively, which resulted in increases to Cost of sales and Loss from continuing operations before income taxes of the same amount in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income for the 13- and 39-week periods ended April 27, 2019. This resulted in a decrease to net income from continuing operations of $3.2 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, for the 13-week period ended April 27, 2019 and an increase to net loss from continuing operations of $4.8 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the 39-week period ended April 27, 2019. The Company has not retrospectively adjusted amounts prior to fiscal 2019 in its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets or Statement of Income, as applying the change in accounting policy prior to fiscal 2019 is not practicable due to data limitations of inventory costs in prior periods.

Change in Book Overdraft Accounting Policy

In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company changed its accounting policy for reporting book overdrafts in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. Amounts previously reported as increase in bank overdrafts on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows represent outstanding checks issued but not yet presented to financial institutions for disbursement in excess of positive balances held at financial institutions, and as such represent book overdrafts. Book overdrafts are included within the Accounts payable balance in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The change in these book overdraft amounts were previously reported as financing activities cash flows on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, on a line item titled Increase in bank overdrafts. The Company has elected a preferable accounting policy presentation for classifying the change in book overdrafts from financing activities to operating activities, which resulted in the reclassification of prior period amounts to conform to the current period presentation. The Company concluded that operating activity classification is preferable, as book overdrafts do not result in financial institution borrowing or repayment activity at the end of respective reporting periods and the presentation presents a more accurate disclosure of its cash generation and consumption activities. The reclassification resulted in a decrease to cash used in operating activities of $23.9 million and a corresponding decrease in cash provided by financing activities for the 39-week period ended April 28, 2018. The reclassification had no effect on previously reported Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, or Condensed Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity.

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, Statements of Income and Statements of Cash Flows have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation.

Reclassifications of prior year amounts within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets include:


•	the reclassification of Accrued compensation and benefits to present separately from Accrued expenses and other current liabilities;


•	the reclassification of Notes payable balances into Long-term debt;


•	the reclassification of the long-term portion of capital lease obligations from Long-term debt to present separately within Long-term capital lease obligations; and


•	the reclassification of residual financing obligations associated with build-to-suit properties for which the Company is not obligated to fund unless it is obligated under a future extension of a lease agreement from the Long-term capital lease obligations to Other long-term liabilities.

Reclassifications of prior year amounts within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income include:


•	the reclassification of goodwill and asset impairment charges from a line item previously titled Restructuring and asset impairment charges to a new line item titled Goodwill and asset impairment (adjustment) charges; and


•	the combination of Interest expense and Interest income to present within Interest expense, net.

Within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, prior year amounts for asset impairment charges have been reclassified within operating activities in a line item titled Goodwill and asset impairment charges. These reclassifications had no impact on reported net income, cash flows, or total assets and liabilities.