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UNFI CFO Mike Zechmeister to depart

Senior VP of Finance John Howard named interim CFO

Russell Redman

August 13, 2019

3 Min Read
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Mike Zechmeister, chief financial officer at United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), is leaving the company to become CFO at transportation and logistics provider C.H. Robinson.

Providence, R.I.-based UNFI said late Monday that Zechmeister is slated to resign from his post on Aug. 23. The food distributor has appointed John Howard, senior vice president of finance and accounting, as interim CFO until it names a permanent replacement. An internal and external search is under the way, the company said.

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Zechmeister (left) has served as CFO at UNFI since October 2015, when he joined the company after 25 years at General Mills Inc., where he held a range of operating finance roles across manufacturing, marketing, sales, corporate services and strategy. He was named vice president of finance for the Pillsbury division in 2005 and then vice president of finance for U.S. retail sales in 2007. He was promoted to treasurer of General Mills in 2011. Plans call for Zechmeister to start in his new role at Minneapolis-based C.H. Robinson, North America’s largest freight service broker, on Sept. 3.

"I thank Mike for his contributions to UNFI over the past four years of significant growth and change,” UNFI Chairman and CEO Steven Spinner said in a statement. “In the near term, we're fortunate to have John's experience and financial acumen available to our board, leadership team and finance organization.”

Related:UNFI, Supervalu now operate as one company

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Howard (left) came to UNFI last month from pharmacy benefits manager Prime Therapeutics, where he served as interim CFO. UNFI noted that he has 20 years of experience leading financial teams. Before joining Prime, he was vice president of corporate finance at Valspar Corp., vice president of finance at Celanese and director of corporate finance at Reichhold Inc.

UNFI said Howard will work closely with the company’s finance leadership, executive team and board of directors in executing its integration and growth plan. In June, UNFI announced that it was operating as one company with a national leadership team and structure after closing its $2.9 billion acquisition of Supervalu Inc. in October 2018.

“John will help continue our efforts to align and build a world-class finance organization, focusing on financial planning data, systems and processes to drive and achieve our strategic business objectives," according to Spinner.

With the integration of Supervalu, UNFI became the nation’s largest publicly traded grocery distributor, with estimated annual sales of more than $21 billion. It serves natural product superstores — with Whole Foods Market its largest customer — as well as independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, e-commerce retailers and foodservice providers.

Related:UNFI CEO: Supervalu ‘puts us in position to win’

“CFO [Mike] Zechmeister has announced that he's leaving the firm. By no means should he be considered the scapegoat for what structural challenges this business faces, but the past four under his watch have seen great shareholder value destruction and a loss of investor confidence. Therefore, as a potential reset, we welcome a new face to the CFO role,” Jefferies analyst Christopher Mandeville said in a research note late Monday.

“We note while Howard is new to UNFI, he has extensive finance leadership experience,” he added. “UNFI will report fourth-quarter 2019 earnings in September, in which case we look forward to hearing from Howard, what he thinks of current fundamentals and the Supervalu merger, and how he plans to manage both near-term and intermediate-term guidance and expectations.”

About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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