Deforestation Policy

Introduction

UNFI believes it is important to protect the world’s forests and natural ecosystems. UNFI’s policy is designed to support a commitment to no deforestation across its primary deforestation-linked commodities. Based on proposed updates in the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)’s October 2025 Urgent Revision to their Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Criteria, UNFI’s policy defines the deforestation target date as 2028 (no more than two years following the submission of UNFI’s FLAG target to SBTi for validation, anticipated to occur in 2026), with a cutoff date of 2020. This policy applies to UNFI’s owned branded and purchased goods. UNFI’s primary deforestation linked-commodities are defined as beef and palm oil. 

UNFI references the Accountability Framework’s definition of deforestation as the loss of natural forest, legally or illegally, as a result of: conversion to agriculture or other non-forest land use; conversion to a plantation; or severe and sustained degradation.

We believe that the first step towards no deforestation is improving traceability. UNFI’s goal is to work with suppliers who do not participate in deforestation. UNFI expects suppliers to share the relevant sourcing information upon request to improve traceability into its supply chain and to facilitate progress against this commitment. UNFI encourages suppliers to set their own no deforestation commitments as well. UNFI commits to helping suppliers achieve these goals by sharing resources and connections through the UNFI Climate Action Hub. 

UNFI evaluates supplier compliance with our policy through one or more of the following approaches:

• Supplier Attestations: Suppliers may be asked to self-certify their compliance and maintain supporting documentation for substantiation.
• Voluntary Public Disclosure: Supplier disclosure of compliance with their own deforestation commitments, provided those policies are aligned with UNFI’s policy.
• Low-Risk Supply Chain Documentation: Suppliers may provide credible documentation demonstrating that the supply chains servicing UNFI purchases are assessed to be low risk for deforestation.

These approaches inform UNFI’s tracking and reporting of compliance rates.

Action Plan for Continuous Improvement

UNFI recognizes that achieving full compliance across all suppliers and commodity volumes requires ongoing collaboration and strategic engagement. To that end, we are committed to:

• Ongoing Supplier Engagement: UNFI will continue to work directly with suppliers to support their progress toward compliance, including providing guidance and resources where appropriate, such as through the UNFI Climate Action Hub.
• Sales Team Alignment: UNFI will engage internal sales teams to identify which suppliers demonstrate compliance with our Deforestation Policy.
• Customer Collaboration: UNFI will coordinate with aligned customers to understand and communicate the market demand for deforestation-free products, accelerating supplier adoption of deforestation-free practices.

These efforts are designed to support supplier transition and ensure credible progress toward our stated goals.

Policy on High-Risk Commodities

Beef

UNFI considers beef originating from Central or South America higher risk for deforestation and will encourage its suppliers to shift away from procuring beef from these regions without sufficient verification that they do not engage in legal or illegal deforestation through one of the methods described above. For beef originating in Central or South America, UNFI strongly encourages our suppliers to pursue third-party verification that they do not engage in legal or illegal deforestation.

Palm Oil

UNFI is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Any new product in UNFI’s owned brands portfolio that contains palm oil must use certified sustainable palm oil. UNFI has committed that its owned brands will use 100% RSPO palm oil by the end of 2027.

We strongly encourage our suppliers to pursue certification of any palm oil they use, and to make a commitment to use only sustainably sourced palm oil. We will use the Climate Action Hub to distribute resources and best practices to our suppliers, which includes webinars and roundtable discussions to help our suppliers understand the certification process. We will also connect them to reputable third-party certifiers such as RSPO, Rainforest Alliance, and Palm Done Right.

As we learn more, both through our own findings and the advancements of the scientific community, we will continue to update and advance our work to eliminate deforestation-linked palm oil in our supply chain.

This policy is subject to regular review to reflect the latest scientific information, market maturity, and stakeholder expectations. UNFI’s commitments regarding deforestation-free beef and palm oil are subject to feasibility that may be impacted by availability, changes in economic or macro environment, or other factors beyond UNFI’s control. The day-to-day implementation of this policy will be the shared responsibility of Supplier Services, Meat Department, and Sustainability and Impact Team. The Sustainability and Impact team will also be responsible for monitoring and reporting on progress.

This policy is overseen by the Nominating and Governance Committee of UNFI’s Board of Directors. Any amendments to this policy must be approved by the Nominating and Governance Committee. The Policy was initially approved on May 31, 2023 and updated on December 3, 2025. The policy is expected to be revised at a future date pending the outcome from SBTi’s October 2025 Urgent Revision to their Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) Criteria and the submission of a FLAG target by UNFI to SBTi for validation.

Progress on this commitment is published and made publicly available on an annual basis through UNFI’s Better for All Report and CDP Forests disclosure. Failures to meet targets and milestones will also be published.