United Natural Foods Advances Digital Services: Can it Fuel Growth?

United Natural Foods, Inc. UNFI is stepping up its digital services push, investing in talent and capabilities designed to help customers and suppliers operate more effectively while strengthening shopper engagement. Digital services are one of seven strategic capability areas UNFI is developing to support differentiation and growth across its customer and supplier network. This gives the initiative a potentially broader role in how the company delivers value beyond traditional grocery distribution.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, the company added a new leader for its digital services business. The business includes offerings designed to help customers and suppliers operate more effectively and strengthen shopper engagement. United Natural Foods already provides a broader set of value-added services to customers and suppliers across more than 30,000 locations in North America. These services include proprietary technology, data, market insights and shelf-management expertise. The digital services effort therefore sits within an existing service platform aimed at helping customers and suppliers build their businesses and brands.

The company is also advancing a technology journey designed to simplify processes, provide better near-real-time insights into the business and improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency. As fiscal 2026 moves toward its close, investment spending is expected to ramp, including incremental investments in technology and commercial capabilities.

The latest materials do not disclose revenue contribution, customer adoption levels, growth rates or a financial target specifically for the digital services business. They instead provide detail on the scope of the capability, its operating purpose and continued investment in talent and technology.

For now, United Natural Foods’ digital services development remains focused on helping customers and suppliers operate more effectively while strengthening shopper engagement. The company also sees continued opportunities to invest in commercial technologies that benefit customers, suppliers and UNFI.

United Natural Foods’ Zacks Rank & Share Price Performance

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have declined 3.8% over the past month, underperforming the industry and the S&P 500 index, which gained 4.1% and 2.9%, respectively. UNFI also underperformed the broader Consumer Staples sector, which declined 0.4% over the same period.

UNFI Stock's Past Month Performance

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Is UNFI a Value Play Stock?

United Natural Foods currently trades at a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 15, which is slightly down from the industry average of 15.03 and the sector average of 16.98. This valuation places the stock at a modest discount relative to comparable peers and the sector overall.

UNFI P/E Ratio (Forward 12 Months)

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Stocks to Consider

Darling Ingredients Inc. DAR develops, produces and sells sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients in North America, Europe, China, South America and internationally. At present, Darling Ingredients sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. 

The consensus estimate for Darling Ingredients’ current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 12.8% and 926.5%, respectively, from the year-ago figures. DAR delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 38.9%, on average.

The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. CHEF distributes specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East and Canada. At present, CHEF flaunts a Zacks Rank #1. Chefs' Warehouse delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 30.4%, on average.

The consensus estimate for Chefs' Warehouse’s current fiscal-year sales and earnings implies growth of 10.6% and 33.7%, respectively, from the year-ago reported figures. 

Utz Brands UTZ engages in the manufacture, marketing and distribution of snack foods in the United States and presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). UTZ delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 1.8%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Utz Brands’ current financial-year sales indicates growth of 3.7% from the year-ago numbers.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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