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RETIREMENT PLANS
12 Months Ended
Jul. 28, 2018
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]  
RETIREMENT PLANS
RETIREMENT PLANS
Defined Contribution Retirement Plan
The Company has a defined contribution retirement plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code, the United Natural Foods, Inc. Retirement Plan (the "Retirement Plan"). In order to become a participant in the Retirement Plan, employees must meet certain eligibility requirements as described in the Retirement Plan document. In addition to amounts contributed to the Retirement Plan by employees, the Company makes contributions to the Retirement Plan on behalf of the employees. The Company's contributions to its Retirement Plan were approximately $11.6 million, $10.1 million, and $7.3 million for the fiscal years ended July 28, 2018, July 29, 2017 and July 30, 2016, respectively.
Multi-employer plans
The Company contributes to two multi-employer plans for certain of its associates that are represented by unions, none of which are individually significant to the Company's consolidated financial statements. The Company made contributions of approximately $0.5 million during the fiscal year ended July 28, 2018. As of the fiscal year ended July 29, 2017, the Company had withdrawn from a third plan, the present value of which is reflected in the consolidated balance sheet. As of July 28, 2018, the withdrawal liability was approximately $3.4 million. Withdrawal payments made during fiscal 2018 were de minimis.
Deferred Compensation and Supplemental Retirement Plans
The Company's non-employee directors and certain of its employees are eligible to participate in the United Natural Foods Deferred Compensation Plan and the United Natural Foods Deferred Stock Plan (collectively the "Deferral Plans"). The Deferral Plans are nonqualified deferred compensation plans which are administered by the Compensation Committee of the Company's Board of Directors. The Deferral Plans were established to provide participants with the opportunity to defer the receipt of all or a portion of their compensation to a non-qualified retirement plan in amounts greater than the amount permitted to be deferred under the Company's 401(k) Plan. The Company believes that this is an appropriate benefit because (i) it operates to place employees and non-employee directors in the same position as other employees who are not affected by Internal Revenue Code limits placed on plans such as the Company's 401(k) Plan; (ii) does not substantially increase the Company's financial obligations to its employees and directors (there are no employer matching contributions, only a crediting of deemed earnings); and (iii) provides additional incentives to the Company's employees and directors, since amounts set aside by the employees and directors are subject to the claims of the Company's creditors until paid. Under the Deferral Plans, only the payment of the compensation earned by the participant is deferred and there is no deferral of the expense in the Company's consolidated financial statements related to the participants' earnings; the Company records the related compensation expense in the year in which the compensation is earned by the participants.
Under the Deferred Stock Plan, which was frozen to new deferrals effective January 1, 2007, each eligible participant could elect to defer between 0% and 100% of restricted stock awards granted during the election calendar year. Effective January 1, 2007, each participant may elect to defer up to 100% of their restricted share unit awards, performance shares and performance units under the Deferred Compensation Plan. Under the Deferred Compensation Plan, each participant may also elect to defer a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of 90% of base salary and 100% of director fees, employee bonuses and commissions, as applicable, earned by the participants for the calendar year. Participants' cash-derived deferrals accrue earnings and appreciation based on the performance of mutual funds selected by the participant. The value of equity-based awards deferred under the Deferral Plans are based upon the performance of the Company's common stock.
The Millbrook Deferred Compensation Plan and the Millbrook Supplemental Retirement Plan were assumed by the Company as part of an acquisition during fiscal 2008. Deferred compensation relates to a compensation arrangement implemented in 1984 by a predecessor of the acquired company in the form of a non-qualified defined benefit plan and a supplemental retirement plan which permitted former officers and certain management employees, at the time, to defer portions of their compensation to earn specified maximum benefits upon retirement. The future obligations, which are fixed in accordance with the plans, have been recorded at a discount rate of 5.7%. These plans do not allow new participants, and there are no active employees subject to these plans.
At July 28, 2018, total future obligations including interest, assuming commencement of payments at an individual's retirement age, as defined under the deferred compensation arrangement, were as follows:
Fiscal Year
 
(In thousands)
2019
 
$
1,147

2020
 
940

2021
 
785

2022
 
766

2023
 
721

2024 and thereafter
 
2,349

 
 
$
6,708



In an effort to provide for the benefits associated with the Deferral Plans and the Millbrook Deferred Compensation Plan, the Company owns whole-life insurance contracts on the plan participants. The cash surrender value of these policies included in "Other Assets" in the consolidated balance sheets was $22.9 million and $21.5 million at July 28, 2018 and July 29, 2017, respectively. The changes in the cash surrender value of these policies are recorded as a gain or loss in "Other, net" within "Other expense (income)," in the Company's consolidated statements of income.