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UNFI readies own brands for digital shelf

Salsify, Trace One create product information workflow for $1 billion portfolio

Russell Redman

December 22, 2021

3 Min Read
UNFI_private_brand_product_family.jpg
The UNFI Brands+ family encompasses more than 5,000 private-label food and nonfood products across 250 categories.UNFI

With a rising number of Americans now grocery shopping online, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) has enlisted a pair of digital commerce platforms to ready its thousands of private-label products for the virtual shelf.

Boston-based Salsify said this week that UNFI turned to its commerce experience management technology and to e-collaboration specialist Trace One to create a single, end-to-end product information management (PIM) workflow for its UNFI Brands portfolio. The Providence, R.I.-based distributor offers more than 5,000 private-brand food and nonfood items across 250 categories — from conventional value to national brand equivalent and premium USDA Organic — that generate over $1 billion in annual sales. 

To digitize its own-brand offerings, UNFI needed specification data from Trace One to collaborate with manufacturers and ensure product compliance and transparency as well as readiness for artwork production, according to Salsify. That data was then integrated with Salsify's Product Experience Management Platform (ProductXM) so product attributes could be seamlessly sent to customers via multi-channel syndication. Salisfy said the integration covers new item setup and specification changes to products over their lifetimes, allowing digital data to be aligned with physical packaging when updates occurred.

Related:UNFI enlists digital product sampling platform

“We want to make sure today’s digital-first consumer has the information they need to make confident food decisions for themselves and their family,” Adam Sinley, director of product development and quality assurance for UNFI Brands at UNFI. “Our investment in Trace One and Salsify help us achieve that by assuring data integrity and standardized formatting across our digital channels.”

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Amid sharp growth in online grocery shopping, brands have had to step up the volume and quality of product data for retailers to place items on the virtual shelf.

Trace One worked with Salsify and the UNFI Brands teams to provide validated data for artwork development and in the structured format required by GS1 Standards and the GDSN. Salsify noted that its dynamic data-import capabilities and Trace One’s glossary-driven solution provided the technical architecture.

“Salsify’s ProductXM platform helps UNFI Brands bring together the core elements they need to manage, syndicate and optimize product content across their entire commerce ecosystem, all within one unified platform,” explained Peter Crosby, vice president of corporate marketing at Salsify. “In partnering with Trace One to import approved specification data through standardized integration, we were able to help get new products and product updates to the digital shelf faster.”

Related:UNFI improves visibility into supply chain data

Over the past year, online grocery shopping grew by over 54% and now accounts for 12% of total U.S. e-commerce sales and 7.4% of all grocery sales, Salsify reported. That has pushed brands to ramp up the volume and quality of data provided to retailers in placing products on the digital shelf. With the Trace One and Salsify integration, the UNFI Brands team cut the time from product development completion to online retail availability, enabling its staff to focus more on creating new products than on data management, Salsify said.

“Trace One's solution reduces exposure to risk while maintaining a highly innovative product development culture,” stated Don Low, solution consultant for Boston-based Trace One. “The consistency between physical packaging and digitally available information beyond the label increases final consumer confidence during the buying process, leading to higher sales volumes.”

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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